Along Came A Symbiote
by ShadowWolf Zero
Summary: Odd how just the right help can turn one's life around. Even more odd when your help comes in the form of an alien life form known as a symbiote. Slight Naruto x Spiderman crossover.
1. Chapter 1:Extra Terrestrial

Along Came A Symbiote

Author's Note: For those of you reading my other fanfic, Way of the Samurai don't worry I'm not quiting it. I'm simply writing two stories so that I don't get bored with one story, a problem I had while working on Whirlpool's rebirth.

Chapter 1: Extra Terrestrial

* * *

><p>The night in Konoha had been calm, quiet, and peaceful. Young Naruto, a six year old spiky haired blonde boy slept peacefully in his apartment, his pajamas and night cap as his choice of clothing.<p>

His slumber had been uninterrupted…..That was till a foreign object slammed through his roof, destroying the floor below his bed, and killing his neighbors below.

During the chaos of the whole event Naruto had fallen to the first floor and practically kissed the uninviting ground. Groggily looking around Naruto couldn't believe the destruction surrounding him as his bedroom no longer existed and the debris from his room mostly covering the current room he was in.

Too dazed to truly be aware of his surrounding, Naruto did not see the black slime crawling out of a crater and continuing towards him.

* * *

><p><em>The parasite… no, the symbiote, it could no longer be called such a thing as it had made the decision to help its host instead of slowly feeding off them, only to throw them away for another. Odd how it's noble believe had angered it's race to the point that they had imprisoned it and sent it off in the hopes it would not spread it's believe.<em>

_The symbiote knew not what deity it should thank as it could only be by the hand of some God that its prison had not only been thrown off course from the barren planet that was its original destination, but broken upon impact._

_The black life form didn't want to think of the hell it could have spent in for the next several millennia if not for its new predicament. As happy as it was to be free it was faced with a problem. It had already been some time since it had been attached to a host and without one it would surely die._

_Unfortunately the closest living being was the small child a few feet away, and experience had shown the symbiote that most kids were either too curious for their own good or easily scared. Right now it did not want to take any chances. So instead of rushing and scaring the child away, the symbiote chose to silently crawl towards the small boy and attach itself to him._

_When it had made contact, a thought of success and much more coursed through it as it began to sense the strong emotions inside of the kid. It hadn't long to delve on this new sensation as it had begun to sense several life forms converging on its and the kids position._

_Covering the pajama pants of its new host, it blended itself so to not be seen._

* * *

><p>Unaware of his new passenger, Naruto had begun trying to find a way out of the wreckage that surrounded him. Luckily several Anbu along with the Hokage had arrived and helped him out.<p>

The white robed old man carefully studied Naruto. "Naruto are you hurt any where? Do you remember anything?" he asked with genuine concern lacing his old voice.

The young blonde simply smiled. "Yeah I'm ok old man! Ummmm what did happen?"

Tension left his shoulders as the Hokage verified that Naruto was fine.

"I'm not sure." stated the aged Kage.

Naruto looked over the remains of his apartment. "I'm going to need a new place to live in."

The Hokage chuckled. "Well Naruto that can be easily fixed. In the mean time you can stay with me till I find you another apartment."

The young boy jumped for joy at the idea of living at the Hokage's house for a short time.

Unknown to either individual, the symbiote was beginning a long and slow process of bonding with Naruto.

* * *

><p><strong>Six years later<strong>

Naruto laughed as he bounce off yet another wall as he ran from the several Konoha nins. Why was he being chased? Well that had something to do with a few buckets of paints and a few statues.

Naruto let loose another laugh at the thought of his prank. Some would think that Naruto had done it for attention, but no, he did it due to a bet he made and he planned to collect on it.

"You'll never catch us alive!" howled Naruto as he ran across the side of a yellow building.

The odd way Naruto referred to himself as being more than one person didn't quirk anyone as it had been a habit he'd picked up long ago. It had worried the Hokage at first, but after a while he simply accepted it as a strange tick.

But unknown to all but Naruto, it was thanks to the symbiote that shared his body. After nearly a year of bonding with Naruto, the symbiote had decided to make its presence known to it's host. At first it had provided Naruto with hints of its existence in order to not spook him before truly revealing itself.

Naruto had taken the news better than most would and was actually excited about the idea of being bonded with the alien life form. He even welcomed the side effects that came along with it.

Referring to himself as we and us had only been the beginning. Naruto had learned that he would no longer tolerate being treated less than any normal person would. A nasty temper and a smart mouth seemed to be the only bad side effects so far and were easy to ignore over the positive effects.

The symbiote had gifted Naruto with a new sense of awareness and had given his body a whole new sense of balance and superiority. Now Naruto could flip through the air with such ease that some would wonder how he had gained his acrobatic skills along with how he never seemed to trip or slip.

Increased strength along with, what Naruto claimed to be perfect chakra was an added bonus. It had been a simple task for the symbiote to give its host the chakra control he desired once it had learned enough about the new energy that was chakra.

As cool as all these things were, Naruto's favorite ability was his symbiotes ability to transform into any clothing needed and even blend into his surroundings when used right.

Speaking of clothes, Naruto had his symbiote take on the form of a full black wardrobe. Midnight black boots helped propel him forward and loose leather pants gave off a small, dark, blue, sheen off it's black surface and a tight turtle framed his body well enough as to allow his muscles to show while a leather jacket matched his pants was worn unzipped.

A pair of black gloves and a mask that covered his mouth was the last piece of clothing on him. There were only two places on his clothing that held any other color than black. The first spot was his mask where a set of razor sharp teeth crisscrossed over his mouth as if it had been painted there. And the second was a large white spider emblem that took up much of his chest and torso as its large head and body had been centered on his torso while it's eight legs curved under and around his arm pits only to copy the spider onto his back as well.

Oddly enough it had been one of his classmates that had given him his fondness to the spider symbol he wore.

* * *

><p><strong>Flash Back: One year ago<strong>

Naruto had been running late to class again. Instead of walking in, admitting he woke up late, and take a scolding from his teacher Iruka, He opted to sneak into the class. Crawling up the wall of the school on all four, Naruto used his chakra control to climb towards a window quickly and silently.

A quick look inside showed that Iruka was busy writing on the board while his other sensei, Mizuki and the class had their attention on him.

Opening the window quickly, Naruto used the same skill crawling up the building, to crawl along the wall and ceiling unnoticed. An empty seat next to his fellow classmate Shino was his destination.

The poor Aburame nearly had a heart attack when Naruto had simply dropped down next to him and had visibly flinched.

A few seconds was all it took for him to regain his composure.

"I swear Naruto, you remind me far too much of one of my insects most hated enemies." said Shino in his usual stoic voice.

Naruto blinked a few times before giving Shino a questioning look.

"Oh and what would that be?"

"Arachnids." was Shino's simple answer.

A quick "Huh?" was Naruto's reply.

Shino let out a sigh before pointing to a corner in the room. "Spiders."

Following the direction Shino pointed to, Naruto spotted a web in the corner of the room and sure enough in the middle of the web was a large spider.

"Why do we remind you of spiders?" Naruto asked, being sincerely curious.

"You crawl along walls with all your limbs and by the time anyone notices you….. It's too late." said Shino, a slight shudder running through his body.

Naruto pondered on what Shino told him before a feral grin crossed his face. "Maybe your right. Hey seeing as you're the bug enthusiast, how about you tell us more about spiders?"

Before Shino could answer a chalk board eraser bounced off Naruto's head, which lead to Naruto turning towards his assailant, Iruka and begin a heated argument on whether he was truly late or not.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Flash back<strong>

Having grown tired of his game of cat and mouse, Naruto decided to pick things up. Ricocheting off a nearby wall, Naruto let out a small thread of his symbiote from his glove to latch onto another wall and swing around to the other side of the building, an idea he had come up with when Shino had begun explaining the anatomy of a spider and their many abilities.

The two Chunins following behind him had jumped around the corner only to be greeted by Naruto's once again miraculous disappearance.

As soon as the Chunins left, a small section of the side of a building began to shimmer before Naruto appeared as plain as day.

"Hehehehe, works every time!" he stated proudly before making his way towards his class.

* * *

><p>The class buzzed with gossip thanks to the absence of both of their sensei's. So much that few even realized that Naruto had opened a window and entered the class. It wasn't until Naruto landed harshly on a desk in front of Kiba in a squat that the whole class knew he was there.<p>

"We win our little bet, Kiba."

Kiba for his part had only jumped a little while the dog on his head, Akamaru, gave an angry bark from being awakened.

"Hah as if you actually out ran all of them, you're probably just getting back from the Hokage's office!"

Naruto used his eyes to give Kiba a threatening sneer, one that Kiba returned instantly.

"The fact that neither Iruka nor Mizuki is here proves that they still haven't caught us."

Once finished with his sentence, Naruto held out his hand, palm up. Kiba allowed a defiant look to stay on his face for a few seconds more before letting out a huff and slipping his hands into his pocket to retrieve a roll of money.

Kiba slapped the money into Naruto's hand before sitting done while mumbling curses.

Naruto didn't even bother counting it before heading to his preferred seat next to Shino. Kiba was loyal and honest to a fault. He may not have liked losing a bet, and he and Naruto had gotten into several fist fights over the role of alpha male, but that didn't mean he would cheat Naruto.

Hinata gave Naruto a shy smile before looking away. Her crush had become rather frightening, but his confidence had still drawn her towards him. Her seat next to Shino was her way of trying to get to know him, but her shyness prevented her from talking to him. Instead she had only been able to give him hopeful glances every now and then.

"What have you done?" Shino accused Naruto as he took his seat.

The teeth on Naruto's mask seemed to grown into a menacing smile. "Oh nothing much, just redecorating the four Kage faces."

Hinata openly gasped while Shino slowly turned to Naruto.

Shino's voice had been unusually loud and held the annoyance that few doubted Shino could feel.

"YOU DID WHAT?"

Before Naruto could reply, the classroom door burst open to reveal Iruka among several other Konoha nins, all of which were leveling a collective glare towards Naruto.

"NARUTO! You're to come to the Hokage office NOW!"

Said blonde began snickering uncontrollably. "We guess we have no choice."

An impatient Chunin gave a quick command before launching himself at Naruto. "Get him!"

Naruto laughed as he simply jumped over the lone Chunin and then out the still open window. Once outside he made a bee line for the Hokage tower.

* * *

><p>Scrubbing off the paint he put on the four Kage faces was Naruto's punishment.<p>

'Thank God we had the foresight to use water colors. Regular paint would have taken hours to remove.'

Iruka had been the one to watch over Naruto as he cleaned the faces.

"Naruto why do you pull these pranks? You have the potential to be at the top of your class, in fact the only thing stopping you is your lazy attitude when it comes to studying."

Naruto who had just finished wiping off the last face dropped his sponge into a bucket before giving Iruka a bored look.

"What good are those grades you write down in that booklet? Today we've proven that we can outrun and even hide from Chunin, the only reason we haven't proven that we can out fight a Chunin is the fact that an assault charge could actually land us in jail. Especially since that would be assaulting a ninja."

Iruka shook his head before responding. "While that may be true, you should apply yourself."

"A little too late for that, don't you think. The graduation test is tomorrow and we've proven to you time and time again that we can perform any and all of the necessary ninjutsu, and we now just enough to pass the written portion." Naruto stated confidently.

"At least give it your all during the tests." Iruka said with a little hope in his voice.

The chuckle Naruto let out bothered him. "But Iruka! If we actually tried, Sasuke wouldn't be top Shinobi, and if that happened, his entire group of fan girls would commit mass suicide. Now we wouldn't want that, now would we?" he said with much sarcasm.

It was no secret to Iruka that Naruto despised Sasuke. It all started when Naruto and Sasuke had a spar together at school. Sasuke not only beat Naruto in one swift move, but insulted him as well. A few months later Naruto had started going through his changes and the two were once again selected to spar with one another. Sasuke still thought Naruto was nothing to worry about and had turned his back on him at the start of the match to anger Naruto and make him rush in like a fool.

He angered him alright, but things went completely south for Sasuke the second Naruto destroyed the gap between them within a blink of the eye and proceeded to beat on him like a drum.

Much to the horrors of Sasuke's fan club, by the time Iruka had been able to restrain Naruto, Sasuke had a broken nose, several bruises and five broken ribs. From that day forward Iruka had to be ready to interfere in a moments notice whenever Naruto and Sasuke were pitted against one another, as Naruto made it a hobby to tear the self righteous Uchiha apart whenever he could get away with it.

That was another thing that bothered Iruka. Naruto knew how to dance on the fine line that bordered on the difference of him being arrested or just given some small chore like punishment.

"We're done Iruka." stated Naruto before proceeding to climb done the mountain on all fours and head home."

Iruka said a good bye to Naruto before heading to his own home.

* * *

><p><strong>A week later<strong>

As Naruto had promised he passed the test easily, though he didn't give it his all as Iruka had hoped. Still a Konoha head band was wrapped around his head in the form of a bandana that covered the top portion of his head, giving his mask an even more terrifying look as his eye's were now the only visible feature of his face.

"Hey Shino, think we'll be on the same team, or will we be your predator?" Naruto asked

A small shudder went through Shino. "I don't know Naruto, although I'm in favor of being on your team." said Shino, whispering the last part.

Shino didn't know why, but he felt some kind of connection to Naruto, as if he were kin. Hinata who was listening to the two let out a small giggle as she heard Shino's whisper.

The classroom door opened and Iruka entered the class alone, causing many of the students to give questioning looks.

"Alright class as you know this will be our last day together so quiet down."

One student raised a hand and Iruka nodded to him.

"Iruka sensei, where's Mizuki sensei?"

The disappointed look on Iruka's face wasn't missed by Naruto and a few others.

"Something came up and Mizuki couldn't be here. If there aren't any more questions I'd like to start the day off by telling you how proud I am of you and….."

Naruto had stopped paying attention after that as he was sure he knew that Iruka was going to tell them what was expected of them and how they were being given an honor, and blah blah blah.

After his speech, Iruka pull out a piece of paper and began informing the students of which team they would be apart of. Once again Naruto didn't pay much attention till he heard his name.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and." Iruka's face paled slightly before stating the last part. "Sasuke Uchiha will be Team Seven."

Looking up towards Naruto, Iruka couldn't help but sweat when Naruto's mask looked as if it were smiling and Naruto let out a bone chilling laughter.

"Oh this. Is going to be lots of fun!"

* * *

><p>Author's Note: There have been plenty of times where people have written about Naruto getting the venom symbiote, but no one has ever done it like this. Most have chosen to have the suit have memories from both Eddie Brock and Peter Parker. I decided to go in a different direction by giving the suit a clean slate. Naruto isn't insane, but the suit does make Naruto more aggressive. While I wanted to give the symbiote a clean slate, I wanted to incorporate much of its abilities and keep the (in my opinion) cool spider symbol. So I decided to give Naruto a fascination with spiders. Please review and let me know how you like this story so far.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2:One Foot in the Door

Along Came a Symbiote

Author's Note: Glad that there were so many that enjoyed the first chapter. There had been 45 favorites and 85 alerts . I feared that due to all the explaining that several would be put off from it. Now I want to reply to a few reviews before I start the chapter.

**Artanis Rose: **Good to see you again, glad your enjoying another one of my fanfics. As far as your question goes, I like writing a Naruto that doesn't follow canon fighting style. There are enough stories where Naruto is pretty much the same except for his love interest.

**Alchemists19:** The Nine Tails Fox's situation will be explained in this chapter.

**Bloxham:** Happy to hear that you enjoy the look I gave Naruto. Sorry about the mask and the bandana but I wanted to give Naruto a more intimidating look that resembled the classic venom without just turning him into venom. As it is, venom doesn't truly exist in this story. The mask Naruto wears is similar to the one Kakashi wears except the obvious add on and color. I might later get rid of the bandana.

**Shi T3nshi:** Well if you like Naruto doing that, then you'll love what I have him do in the future. The symbiote takes away many of Naruto's inhibitions.

Chapter 2:One Foot in the Door

* * *

><p>Ten minutes after Iruka had finished explaining who was in what team, Naruto decided to find out what happened concerning his other sensei. It wasn't hard to see that Iruka didn't want to tell everyone what had happened, but Naruto was curious. Getting up from his seat and walking towards Iruka, Naruto briefly saw the disappointed look on Hinata's face.<p>

'Maybe she doesn't like one of her teammates, or she didn't get put on the team along with someone she wanted'

Iruka took notice of Naruto's presence. "Now Naruto I know you're not happy about your team but,"

"Ooooohhh noooo sensei. We are rather happy about our team!" Naruto spoke in a near sing song fashion.

Iruka couldn't help but feel bad for Sasuke, but then again Naruto would be watched by a Jonin.

"We are just curious about Mizuki. What happened?" Naruto asked.

"Look Naruto I don't really want to tal….. On second thought I guess I can tell you, just not right now. How about you come by tomorrow after you and your team gets _associated_."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at how Iruka said associated; he could just smell a hidden meaning behind it. Satisfied with Iruka's promise, Naruto began heading back to his seat just in time for the Jonin instructors to arrive and begin collecting their teams.

It wasn't long before the only remaining people in the class were Naruto, Iruka, Sakura and Sasuke. Iruka, who had just finished collecting his things, headed for the door to leave before sending team seven an apologetic look.

"I guess your Jonin instructor is running late, again. Just wait here, I'm sure he'll get here, eventually." said Iruka before leaving them alone.

Naruto shook his head as he was now alone with the two people he hated most. Sakura wasn't as much hated as she was disliked. Naruto had liked her at first thanks to the bright color of her hair, but just as the symbiote got rid of Naruto's goofy attitude, so too did his crush disappeared. Sakura's infatuation with Sasuke did make him dislike her.

Now Sasuke on the other hand was a different story. Hate was the right word for what Naruto felt towards him. Sasuke had everything Naruto could want, but didn't care as he ignored the people that cared and respected him so he could stay in his world of self pity and loathing. Despite this he still acted as if he was above everyone and insulted all those who didn't agree with him.

"Sasuke how about after we meet our new sensei, you and I go out to dinner?" Sakura asked in hope of accomplishing what all other girls had failed to do.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he predicted what would happen next and even mouthed the reply.

"No."

"Oh come one Sasuke it will be fun." Sakura stated, undismayed by Sasuke's blatant dismissal.

Sasuke didn't even give a response.

Things went like this for another two hours before Naruto lost his patients. Getting up and heading towards the door, He planned on kicking down the door. He stopped when he thought of the consequences of doing such a thing.

A fine for destruction of property, a scolding from Iruka, and in the end he'd solve nothing as the person he was angry at could probably care less about the wooden door. So instead, he lightly slammed the door open, lightly in the fact that the door only cracked instead of shattering, before leaving.

Sakura and Sasuke stared at the exit for a few seconds as they both thought along the same lines.

'Freak'

'Loser'

* * *

><p>The Hokage was bored beyond what he thought was possible as he was once again signing papers.<p>

TAP TAP TAP TAP

Some would wonder how such a sound could seem like wonderful music to the Hokage, but it was. The sound was Naruto using his index finger to tap onto the window behind the old Kage.

Hiruzen gave a small signal to Naruto giving him the go ahead to come him.

Using his hand to stick to the window, Naruto lifted it open just enough for him to slip in. Oh how he loved his chakra control and his many uses for it. There wasn't so much as a crack on the window and thanks to his gloves, a print neither.

"Naruto what brings you here?" the Hokage asked.

Naruto let out a chuckle. "Oh nothing much, just bored."

Hiruzen let out a chuckle. "Ah I see, how do you like your team?"

"HAH!" was Naruto's response. "How many laws have we been accused of breaking concerning the Uchiha?"

The Hokage couldn't help but shake his head as he reached into his desk and brought out a stack of papers nearly thirty pages in total.

"Five charges of attempted murder, ten charges of assault, nine charges of battery, with three charges being both assault and battery at the same time."

Naruto smiled as if remembering fond memories. "Yeah we thought as much. Oddly enough Sasuke wasn't the one to press charges against us."

"You're just lucky that he didn't press charges or you would be in serious trouble Naruto." stated the Hokage.

Naruto simply shook his head. "Luck had nothing to do with it. If Sasuke did press charges he would have to admit that we were strong enough to commit such crimes."

One of the invisible Anbu snickered in the corner of the room, ruining his sense of invisibility.

Hiruzen sent a raised eyebrow towards his Anbu, silencing him. Though he had to admit that using someones pride to get away with beating the shit out of him was indeed funny.

"That may be so Naruto, but now that you are a ninja you can't go around doing such things anymore. If I were to be shown one of these..." The Hokage said as he picked up one of the many papers.

"Then I would have no choice but to give you the appropriate punishment."

Naruto let a huff. "Fine we guess. Would we be able to beat him within an inch of his life in spars?"

"No, and besides it's still not determined whether team seven is official."

Naruto's reply was instant. "What do you mean our team may not be official yet?"

Naruto's words caused Hiruzen to blink at him a few times.

"Didn't Kakashi tell you?"

"Who?"

The Hokage placed his fingers onto his temples and began rubbing. "Your Jonin instructor never came, did he?"

Naruto shook his head

The Hokage let out a deep sigh before mumbling. "I told him about you and he still decided to arrive late."

Once his little rant to himself was over, Hiruzen gave Naruto his attention again.

"Naruto I need you to go and find one of your teammates, and ask them what Kakashi has told them."

"All right, we guess." Naruto said before leaving exiting through the very window he entered through.

'Guess we'll go find Sakura, at least she won't piss us off too badly.'

After Naruto left, Hiruzen looked over to the same corner that was occupied by the snickering Anbu.

"Get me Hatake. Apparently I need to remind him that orders are orders."

All good humor left the Anbu as he let go of his illusion and gave a quick bow before disappearing.

* * *

><p>Naruto opened his bathroom door, entering as he planned to start a bath. Turning the knob for the hot water all the way while he only turned the cold water a quarter of the way created the perfect mixture of hot and cold for his body.<p>

While he waited for the tub to fill up he thought about what Sakura had told him.

'Great, just great. All those years spent we spent in that school and we still haven't become ninja. And what was that about sixty six percent, something about that just doesn't sit right with us.'

Seeing as the tube had filled up enough for Naruto to enjoy himself, he gave the command for his symbiote to withdraw into him, leaving him naked except for the head band on his head, which he simply threw onto the counter before settling into the water.

'No point in us worrying over tomorrow. We'll just have to take things one step at a time.'

Thought Naruto before scrubbing himself down with a soaped rag.

* * *

><p><strong><span>The Next Day<span>**

Just as Sakura told him to, Naruto arrived at training ground seven at around eight. Near the three erect training post sat Sakura and Sasuke. Both of whom looked miserable thanks to a mixture of hunger and lack of sleep.

Naruto simply shook his head before leaping onto a nearby tree branch. He had tried to give her fair warning that not eating was a mistake and that their new sensei's threat was ill found as if they did work so hard that they could puke, that they would whether there was substance in their stomach or none. The only difference food would make is the difference between a dry heave and a hurl.

"We give him thirty more minutes before we have a nice chat with the Hokage." said Naruto as he began mentally counting the minutes away.

The two on the ground didn't say anything, but were in full agreement with him doing so.

The thirty minutes had quickly come and gone, and just as Naruto was getting ready to leave Kakashi appeared in the middle of the training ground via leaf body flicker.

'Alright that was far too convenient Hatake.' Naruto thought

Kakashi wore the standard Jonin uniform which consisted of dark blue shirt and pants with a green Jonin vest zipped up over it. His head band was worn in a fashion that covered one of his eyes and probably assisted his grey hair in its gravity defying stance.

"Before we begin the test I would like for everyone to say a little about themselves seeing as we couldn't do so yesterday thanks to a missing teammate." said Kakashi while looking at Naruto.

Sakura looked confused. "Um like what sensei."

"Likes, dislikes, hobbies, and goals of the such" Kakashi stated in a bored tone.

"Oh, how about you go first sensei." Sakura asked.

Thirty seconds later Sakura was annoyed while Naruto and Sasuke could have cared less about the lazy nin and his evasive answers.

Kakashi pointed towards Naruto. "Alright how about we start off with you?"

Naruto chuckled. "What's the point? You already know about us, as I'm sure the Hokage told you many things about us, and these two have been our classmates for several years."

"True, but I'm sure that there are things that me and them don't know about you." was Kakashi's reply.

"Yes, and if we haven't told them as classmates then why would we want to tell them now?" Naruto said.

Kakashi let out a sigh. "As a team we should attempt to form a bond between one another and the best way to start is by getting to know one another."

"But it's not definite that we are a team yet."

His hand slapping his own forehead was all Kakashi could do in response.

'Dear god I can't wait to fail this team'

"Fine, we'll do the test first!" said Kakashi as he pulled out two bells and began explaining the rules of the test.

After explaining the rules Kakashi rung the proverbial starting bell and all three Genin wannabes leapt into the trees.

"Well at least they're hiding well. I can still sense Sakura and Sasuke, but where is Naruto?" Kakashi asked himself.

'Guess what the Hokage said about Naruto's ability to completely hide his presence is true.'

* * *

><p>It had been twenty minutes into the test and nothing had happened. Sakura was getting antsy as she was waiting for a chance to help Sasuke. Her only concern was that Naruto would get ahold of one of the two bells, leaving her alone as she doubted that Sasuke would be unable to attain his own bell.<p>

Suddenly a hand covered her mouth and pulled her back. She'd have screamed if not for the obvious futility. Naruto then turned her towards him and put a finger to his lips.

"Ssshhhhhh. We want to tell you something. Will you be quiet and listen to us?"

Sakura disliked Naruto and would probably tell anyone else to go screw themselves, but at the same times she feared him even more. So instead of providing resistance, she simply nodded her head dumbly.

Before speaking Naruto decided to remove his hand from Sakura's mouth.

"Only two of us can pass this test and to be truthful we don't like this team all that much. So here is what we propose. We will remove ourselves from this test so that you and Sasuke can team up together without worry that we will jump in and take a bell. Sasuke is over there in one of the trees, we advise you to inform him of our decision."

Sakura nodded her head fast before a smile crossed her face and she left to find Sasuke.

Just as Naruto promised, he left and began heading towards the academy, he had questions and Iruka had promised him answers.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for Sakura to find Sasuke as Naruto had been right about his location.<p>

Sasuke for his part had sensed Sakura coming and had sent her an angry glare.

"What are you doing here? You've most likely alerted Kakashi to our location."

Sakura looked down in disappointment before reminding herself as to why she was there to begin with.

"Wait I have to tell you something."

"It can wait till after the test, now go!" said Sasuke cutting her off.

Sakura shook her head. "No it concerns the test. Naruto told me he doesn't want to be a part of the team and has left; now it's only the two of us and we can focus on getting the bells without worrying about being dropped from the program."

"Why should I believe you, for all I know he lied to you." was Sasuke's reply.

Sakura's face now sported a dead panned look. "Sasuke, this is Naruto we're talking about. He doesn't lie, if he says he going to do something he typically does it."

Sasuke shook his head at this. She was right about that, Naruto didn't lie about what he planned to do. Sasuke knew that all to well, though he loathed the very thought of admitting it. A thought crossed his mind at the moment and an angry growl escaped his throat.

'Dammit! I've been waiting for him to attack Kakashi all this time for nothing!"

As much as Sasuke hate to, he turned to Sakura. "When I go to attack Kakashi….. Can you give me some support?"

Sasuke knew better to try and attack Kakashi without some support or at the very least a distraction, something he was hoping Naruto would have provided.

Sakura nearly squealed from the question given to her. "Of course!"

With that said the two prepared to confront Kakashi.

* * *

><p>Kakashi flipped yet another page of his orange book. He had been surprised by how patient the three had been. Normally there was at least one Genin would charge in head first, he or she thinking that they could actually take Kakashi. Twenty more minutes and he had begun to wonder if they had any intention of trying to pass the test at all.<p>

Two shurikens flew towards him and he simply tilted his head as the projectiles passed by.

"Well it's about time something happened." said Kakashi as he looked towards his yet to be students.

* * *

><p>Naruto used his favorite window to get into the class room. Iruka saw this and shook his head.<p>

"You're never going to use the door, are you?"

Naruto laughed at Iruka's expression. "That's not true sensei; just yesterday we used the door to leave class."

"Well that explains the cracks." Iruka mumbled.

Naruto walked over to the first row desks and sat down. "So Iruka, what happened to Mizuki?"

Iruka let out a sigh. "Mizuki had been caught trying to steal the forbiden scroll of jutsus from the Hokage's office and leave the village."

Naruto scratched his head. "So he tried to go traitorous. You mentioned that we deserved to know. Why is that?"

Iruka walked over to the door and insured that it was locked before approaching Naruto and joining him on the desk.

"When Mizuki was interrogated, he tried to name you as his accomplice."

A growl reverberated through Naruto's throat and his eyes narrowed.

"We take it that they didn't believe him, seeing as we're not behind bars."

Iruka nodded. "Inoichi Yamanaka delved into Mizuki's mind and discovered that it was a lie. Though he discovered that Mizuki had thought about tricking you into stealing it for him. But you had become too self reliant and Mizuki figured that you wouldn't fall for his trick and decided to steal it himself."

"Why would he pick us?" Naruto asked.

Iruka's face darkened. "I don't know."

Despite Iruka's lie Naruto understood instantly why thanks to the look on his face. Mizuki had been hoping to prey on the feelings of a jinchuuriki. It was wise that Mizuki didn't try to trick him as he would have come to a disturbing surprise, one that would make his imprisonment seem small.

Naruto knew about his status, or to be more correct….. his previous status.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Flashback<span>**

_It had been nearly a year since the symbiote had inhabited Naruto and it had come to a shocking discovery. It wasn't alone? For some time it had decided to study its neighbor. With enough time the symbiote learned enough to categorize its neighbor and discovered it was some kind of large fox._

_Why something like this inhabited Naruto, the symbiote didn't know, but it would find out if the fox could prove useful or at the very least find out if it was harmful._

_Months went by and the symbiote discovered many things about the fox, both good and bad. If its host could ever learn how to wield the power of the fox then they would be nearly invincible, but that was highly unlikely as the fox wasn't like the symbiote. __The fox had no intentions of helping Naruto and would kill him if ever given the chance. Luckily the seal on Naruto's abdomen prevented the fox from doing so and ultimately made the fox harmless._

_In the end, the symbiote decided that the fox had to go. It came to this decision not because it viewed the fox as a threat or hindrance to Naruto, but because it felt that the fox was nothing but a waste of space. As long as Naruto had the symbiote, why would he need the fox, especially when the fox would rebel against Naruto at every given chance._

_Instead of having a battle of the wills inside of Naruto mind, the symbiote decided to simply crush the fox at the source. Ironic how the all powerful fox was unable to even defend itself so long as it was sealed in Naruto, while the symbiote was capable of so much more while in Naruto. __The fox did attempt to fight back but ultimately failed as the symbiote took no form and simply smothered the soul that emitted the mental image of the fox till death to hold of it._

* * *

><p><strong><span>Flashback end<span>**

"It's a good thing that Mizuki didn't go through with his plan to use us, cause we would have ripped his skull and spine from his body." Naruto stated.

Iruka shuddered as he knew full well that Naruto would do so.

"Let's put this behind us Naruto, what's done is done. So how are things going with your team?"

Naruto let out a chuckle. "Not sure, we left Sakura and Sasuke to complete the test."

Iruka had to ask himself if he heard Naruto right. Yeah Naruto had done many unbelievable things, but never something like this

"N-Naruto! Why did you do such a thing?" Iruka yelled.

"Because Kakashi attempted to pit us against each other." Naruto simply stated as if it was such an easy concept.

Iruka gave Naruto a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"He gave us a test that required us to get two bells from him; the person that didn't get a bell would be dropped from the ninja program. So we decided to remove ourselves so that the others could pass without worrying about our interference."

Iruka nodded at this line of thought; though he knew it was bullshit that Naruto would be removed from the program he decided to ask his question.

"So what about you? You just going to give up on being a ninja?"

A hearty laugh came out of Naruto's mouth. "No. I know there's no way the old man would prevent me from becoming a ninja, just because of a silly test like this."

Naruto paused before continuing. "Especially with my status as a jinchuuriki." he lied.

Iruka's eyes widened. "So you know."

Naruto nodded his head. "For a while now."

Jumping off the desk he was sitting on and making his way towards the window, Naruto stopped only to look at Iruka for a brief second.

"Our chat has been fun Iruka; maybe we'll be seeing you soon."

Iruka sent a sad smile towards Naruto, though he was hopeful that Naruto wouldn't be attending the academy for another year.

* * *

><p>After leaving the academy, Naruto decided to get a bite to eat before heading home. He was simply jumping from roof to roof, minding his own business as he made his way through the village when three kunai imbedded themselves in his path. Sensing a presence a few feet behind him, Naruto turned his head to find Kakashi glaring at him with his lone eye.<p>

"So tell me Naruto, what made you think that leaving in the middle of the test was a good idea."

Naruto simply shrugged his shoulder in an I don't care fashion. "It was for the good of the team."

Kakashi looked like he didn't believe Naruto, at least that was the emotion his lone eye revealed.

"Well just so you know, your absence has caused your team to fail. I hope you're happy with a civilian life." said Kakashi.

"Ha, as if you would simply track me down to tell me this you lazy bastard. Don't try to rile us up just because we refuse to play your game" Naruto said before jumping off the side of the roof and disappearing from Kakashi's sight.

Naruto was right, Kakashi had come for more. He had hoped that if he confronted Naruto, he could get a response from Naruto that would help him figure him out, but Naruto was unfazed from Kakashi's words and had simply laughed them off.

Looking at the time Kakashi decided that he better head to the Hokage tower and give his verdict on team seven.

* * *

><p>The Hokage's office was filled with several Jonin, as each one began giving their verdict on whether their team passed or failed. This went on till there were only three teams left, and two of the Jonins of the team approached the Hokage's desk.<p>

"Team 8 has passed their test and are prepared to be administrated into service." said women that could be described as a super model. Her long black hair was filled with waves and curls. Red eyes filled with respect gazed at the old man and her choice of clothes was a battle dress composed of several bandages that had been sown together in a spiraling pattern that stopped mid thigh and only had one red long sleeve.

"Same goes for team nine." said the second Jonin who wore a similar Jonin out fit that Kakashi wore. A lit cigarette bobbed up and down from his mouth as he talked. His other defining feature was his tan skin; spiky hair and beard that made him look like a younger Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Now only one of the teams was remaining and its Jonin had yet, not truly surprising all who new of his habit.

The Hokage was just about to signal for an Anbu when Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Sorry for being late, I had to deal."

"Can it Kakashi, what is your verdict." the Hokage interrupted

Kakashi's reply was instant. "Team seven failed."

"Kakashi before your decision is final I would like to inform you that I watched over your test and the actions your students took. Please explain in detail why you feel that your team failed?" the Hokage asked.

A slight widening of Kakashi's eye was the only indication that Kakashi was surprised.

"I gave my usual test of team work and being able to see past lies. Naruto left in the middle of the test, leaving his teammates to fend for themselves."

Many of the Jonins began murmuring to one another about Naruto's action while others didn't seem all that surprised, especially when one considered that Sasuke was his team mate.

The Hokage gave a few seconds for the Jonins to quiet down before raising his hand for silence.

"Kakashi are you basing your decision on Naruto's action alone? Because as I saw, both Sasuke and Sakura had fulfilled the part of working as a team." The Hokage stated.

Kakashi thought for a second before responding. "No. While Sakura and Sasuke did work together, they didn't do so until Naruto left. While they show that they are capable of working together, they also showed that they aren't capable of working with Naruto."

The Hokage nodded. "As that may be, they can learn to. I'm going to be honest with you Kakashi. Whether you fail team seven or not, Naruto will still go on to be a Konoha ninja."

The room once again filled with murmurs as they couldn't believe what their Hokage had said.

Kakashi was the first to recover from his shock and decided to ask the question everyone was wondering.

"Why would Naruto still be a Genin if team seven is failed?"

"There is a reason I put Naruto into team seven and not because of his grades. I wanted to test Naruto, and he passed. Naruto hates Sasuke, this is no secret. He could have chosen to sabotage Sasuke and insure that he couldn't become a Genin. Instead Naruto chose to remove himself so that the team would be able to operate effectively. I wanted to see if Naruto would put the mission before his feelings and he proved he could."

Several of the Jonins nodded as they had heard of the several times Naruto had put Sasuke into a hospital during what was supposed to be a _friendly_ spar.

"Hokage, does Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki have anything to due with this exception you're making for Naruto." Kakashi asked out of curiosity.

The Hokage shook his head. "Not entirely. If Naruto was ineffective as a ninja I wouldn't allow him to pass. Kakashi some would refer to yourself, Sasuke, and I as prodigies due to our ability to learn almost anything. But people like the First Hokage, Hanzo the Salamander, and Naruto fall into a category I like to call naturally skilled ninja. No one truly taught them, yet they are powerful ninja for one unknown reason or another. Despite Naruto's massive chakra stores, his chakra control rivals that of a medic nin. On top of that his natural athleticism has been the bane of most of my Anbu and neither I nor Kurenai have been able to find a single genjutsu that he couldn't break out of in a matter of seconds."

Many of the Jonins looked towards the Genjutsu Mistress only to receive a nod in affirmation.

"Naruto is too gifted to simply live a civilian life, and I won't let his talent go to waste when he wants to pursue a career as a ninja. So I'll ask you again. What is your verdict for team seven?"

Kakashi closed his lone eye as he thought over all he had been told.

"Sir you do realize that if I did pass my students that they wouldn't work together."

Hiruzen shook his head. "The question isn't whether Naruto will work with Sasuke and Sakura; he proved that he could set aside his feelings today. The real question is if Sasuke and Sakura will work with Naruto."

Kakashi let out of sigh as he agreed that was the situation. "Maybe if I have them work on a lot of team building exercises they will get along. Team seven passes."

"That's good to hear Kakashi. Everyone is now dismissed." The Hokage said as he planned to get to work on finishing the paper work he was falling behind on.

Every Jonin except Kakashi left. Seeing this, the Hokage gave Kakashi a questioning look.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Kakashi nodded his head. "Has Naruto always been so talented? And if so why hadn't he graduated earlier like Itachi."

The Hokage pulled out a pipe and lit it before answering. "Naruto's life has been hard enough with his burden. I wanted him to enjoy his childhood. We all know the various horrors that ninja risk facing, no reason to throw him into that life so soon."

Satisfied with the answer he was given, Kakashi left.

* * *

><p>Naruto opened his door and immediately headed for his fridge. Once opened he pulled out a carrot before his mask receded and he chomped down on the orange vegetable. As much as he loved ramen, Naruto didn't get his muscular and healthy body from just eating mass amounts of noodles and broth.<p>

The only thing that the symbiote ever did that bothered Naruto was to alter his taste buds and give him cravings for other foods. When the symbiote saw that Naruto wasn't getting enough of one protein or vitamin, then it would give Naruto a craving for something that held what he lacked.

One time Naruto found himself drawn to the Yamanaka's flower shop by some scent that him made unconsciously lick his lips and ended up buying a dozen flowers he never head of only to go home and eat the petals.

A knock at his door alerted Naruto to a possible visitor.

'Or someone too dumb for their own good.'

Silently making his way to the door, Naruto ignored the second set of knocks as he wanted to insure that the person on the other side of the door couldn't detect him. It wouldn't be the first time someone had tried to attack him at home, as his new attitude had garnered much negative attention.

His door didn't have a peep hole, so instead he sent small thread of his symbiote to squeeze in between the keyhole of his door while he readied his fist to punch through the door and knock out the possible fool.

Without leaving the shadow of the keyhole, the symbiote saw everything that existed on the other side of the door. Once his symbiote confirmed that the person was an Anbu, Naruto retracted his thread of symbiote and have it reaffix his mask before opening the door.

"Sorry for the wait, we were busy." Naruto said

The Anbu gave a nod. "It's ok. The Hokage just wanted you to be informed that you and your team are now officially Genin of Konoha. He would also like for you to stop by his office tomorrow so that you can have your picture taken for your license."

"Thank you and tell the Hokage that we will see him tomorrow." said Naruto.

"You should be proud Uzumaki. The Hokage thinks very highly of you."

Naruto smiled before closing the door.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: I'm trying not to screw up this story, by making Naruto too powerful, but it's kind of hard not to make Naruto so with all the abilities that the symbiote provides. Those of you that hope Naruto becomes a sex fiend, I'll warn you ahead of time. There will be lemons, but it won't happen till much later.<p>

I also plan for the other more popular symbiote like Carnage, (And possibly Toxin) to make an appearance. I already know who I plan to bond the Carnage symbiote to, so don't bother making suggestions, I don't mean to be rude, it's just that some people often say I should **DO** something in my fanfic.

But if you want to make suggestions for Toxin to bond with someone, I'd be happy to listen.


	3. Chapter 3:Getting what We want

Along Came a Symbiote

Author's note: Thank you everyone that has left such positive and helpful reviews. On another note, a lot of people assume that if Toxin bonds with someone such as Lee, then he will be able to use chakra. This isn't the case. The symbiotes can only augment what already exists. Also some of you believe that Carnage will bond with either Sasuke or (the more common notion) Anko.

Now while I won't confirm or deny anything, I want to state that the Carnage symbiote is going to start off on a clean slate as well. I'm not saying that the Carnage symbiote won't bond to a bad guy, but that it won't target just negative thoughts. You have to remember that Naruto's symbiote hasn't given birth yet, so who its 'child' bonds to and how their personality turns out is dependent on who Naruto is near at the time.

Chapter 3: Getting what We want

* * *

><p>Naruto let out a sigh as he and his team walked dogs through the street for a rich elderly women. This was his so called mission. This wasn't the only mission he and his team completed as they had also pulled weeds, clean up trash, and chase a cat that had every right to run from its owner, among various other chores.<p>

How these things actually took military man power, Naruto nor his symbiote would never know, but they were sure of one thing. This team was doomed.

After team seven became official Kakashi went back to running three hours late and the animosity between the Genin hadn't changed. Naruto still hated Sasuke, Sasuke still had the delusion that Naruto was weaker than him and would only slow him down, and Sakura still made futile attempts to date Sasuke.

Kakashi had given them many team building exercises, but this had solved nothing except giving each member a good understanding on how the others fought. While Naruto would admit that it did help to know a little more about Sakura's habits when she fought, he had already known plenty about how Sasuke fought.

Sasuke was the type of fighting that made others dance to his tune. If Sasuke took a step forward, then he expected you to step back, if he took a step back, then you took a step forward. If he lowered his guard on his left side, he expected you to strike his unguarded side so he could easily deflect the predicted attack and counter-attack your now unguarded area.

'Not that it helped him against us.' Naruto thought as he chuckled, causing his team mates to give him odd looks.

Back when they fought in the academy, Naruto destroyed Sasuke's prideful style with brute force and ferocious speed. Sasuke had tried a feint on Naruto before only to receive one in return. When Sasuke's real attack missed, Naruto followed up with a lariat.

Sasuke had been just able to put up a guard , but with the momentum of his speed combined with his strength, Naruto's attack had caused Sasuke to back flip, landing hard on hard on his abdomen first with the rest of his body following. Despite the pain he felt. Sasuke had been able to continue fighting after that, but he had learned that when it came to Naruto, blocking was next to useless.

One of Naruto's dogs tried to chase after a cat and nearly caught it when.

"Aarrrkkk!" A strong yank of his leash solved that problem.

"Was that really called for?" Kakashi asked, clearly not liking the act.

Naruto shook his head. "It's a dog Kakashi. Show it who's boss and it will obey, let it do as it please and, well…..."

Kakashi followed Naruto's line of sight to find Sakura having trouble with her dogs as they tried to split of into different directions.

"Still, your dog made an awfully loud yelp. I would prefer it if the owner doesn't find out." Kakashi stated in a bored tone.

One of Sasuke's dogs attempted to split off from the group and Sasuke tried to mimic Naruto's action, or at least he tried. Sasuke did succeed in keeping his dog from leaving the pact, but lacked the strength to yank it back into the group. Instead his dog stood on his hind legs as its body weight leaned forward while it let out a troubled breathe thanks to the collar digging into its throat.

Naruto didn't miss the look of anger on Sasuke's face and didn't even bother hiding his awareness as he let out a laugh.

"Students please don't man handle the clients dogs." Kakashi said in a bored yet ordering manner.

Sasuke simply grunted in response and Naruto ignored Kakashi as he slowed his pace in order for him to fall back with Sakura. With one hand he took hold of her leashes and with the other, gave her the leashes to his now obedient dogs.

Sakura nodded as they traded off dogs.

"Thanks Naruto." she said as Naruto began getting the dogs under control, much to the dismay of Kakashi as several yelps could be heard.

Over the last few weeks, Sakura discovered that Naruto wasn't such a bad guy, as he would offer her help whenever she needed and usually didn't act like an ass if she didn't do something to upset him first. She still thought that he could be scary and didn't approve when he bad mouthed Sasuke or worse. Despite seeing Naruto in a new color, Sakura still saw Sasuke as a diamond compared to all other boys their age.

There had been several times that she had tried to defend Sasuke by implying that Naruto was just jealous of Sasuke or trying to act cool. Something that Naruto just laughed off which had slowly caused Sakura to decrease the number of rants she made.

Turning one last corner and walking an additional block, the three Genin and their sensei stopped in front of a gated yard that surrounded a luxurious two story house. Walking through the gate, each Genin unclipped their leashes from each dog's collar before dropping off the leashes and heading back to the Hokage tower.

* * *

><p>Naruto along with his fellow Genin and sensei stood in front of the Hokage's desk giving their reports.<p>

'As if walking dogs requires a report!' Naruto thought.

And preparing to get another mission/chore.

"Well Kakashi it seems your team has done well to finish their previous mission. Any chance they are up for another D rank mission today."

For a second the Hokage and Kakashi looked towards Naruto, both wondering if he would object to yet another D rank mission. Naruto for his part was thinking about doing such a thing. Only thing that stopped him from making their thoughts reality was a question he asked himself.

'Even if we bug him for a C rank, will we get something exciting or boring?'

Naruto thought back and forth between the possibilities and the differences. Sure it would be nice to get out of Konoha for a C rank mission, but what if all he ended up doing was escorting some paranoid merchant. That would be four or five days of him just walking on civilian roads.

'Hell we could do that here.'

Despite his inner thoughts Naruto still wondered about the possibility of going on a nice action packed trip.

"Hey old man, got any C ranks lying around?"

The old Hokage smiled while a few others gave him glares for his lack of respect.

"Naruto, I'm sorry to tell you, but your team isn't ready for a C rank."

The razor sharp teeth on Naruto mask seemed to form into a feral grin as Naruto caught the fact that the Hokage told him that his team wasn't ready, instead of saying that he wasn't ready.

"We know. We're just curious of if there are any available and what their objectives are."

Kakashi gave Naruto a questioning look. "Why do you want to see them if you know we can't take the mission."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders before replying. "We just want to see what's in store for us when we are allowed to take such missions."

The Hokage chuckled as he knew there was more to it than what Naruto said. Picking up a scroll that he had yet to file, the Hokage handed it to Naruto.

Naruto opened it, scanning through the mission objectives and locations involved

'Hmmm, seems like an escort mission, bridge builder from Wave. Looks like an old drunk…. ha, if he traveled all the way here in one piece then he can travel all the way back just as well. Just as we thought, paranoid old fool… or he's lyi….. no no, we're over thinking things.'

Rolling up the scroll and handing it back, Naruto took his place next to his team.

Both the Hokage and Kakashi stared at Naruto a second, waiting to see if he would make any demands. To their surprise he stayed silent.

"So Kakashi, do you think your team is able to take on another mission?" The Hokage asked.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and was given another D rank for his team to complete.

* * *

><p><strong>A week later<strong>

Naruto dashed through the village and towards the Hokage tower, leaping and bouncing from building to building. Why was he in such a hurry? Well that was thanks to an Anbu informing him that his presence was immediately required in the Hokage office.

While Naruto acted out a lot and didn't play by others rules, he knew that when an Anbu was sent to retrieve you, fun time was over. He respected the old Kage too much to gripe about being woken up so early, and was truly interested in what was so urgent.

Arriving at the tower, Naruto choose to climb up the wall and use his usual exit instead of simply walking through the front door. As far as he was concerned it was faster and less of a hassle.

Reaching the window, he opened it with his usual trick and flipped himself in. Once inside he saw that his other two teammates were already there and much to his surprise, his sensei as well.

'hahaha, guess he knows not to rock the boat when it comes to the old man'

Kakashi merely gave Naruto a puzzled look as he watched him enter via window. Though Kakashi wanted to comment on it, he knew that the Hokage was in no mood.

'Guess the Hokage's favorites are allowed to enter through the window.'

Once Naruto was standing next to his team the Hokage spoke.

"I'm sorry for waking you up at this time, but I'm in need of team sevens services. Three days ago I sent team ten out on a C rank mission because I believed that they have built a reasonable amount of teamwork. I got a letter today informing me that their client lied when he filled out his request forms and that team ten had been ambushed by two missing nins, the Demon Brothers. The client is currently being hunted by a man known as Gato, a man who has a large wealth and is hiring missing nin to kill our client. This mission has been increased to an A rank now and team ten needs reinforcements. Which is why I've called you here."

Before Kakashi could even add in his two scents, Naruto jumped in.

"We'll accept!" he stated excited.

"Now hold on Naruto." Kakashi ordered before turning to the Hokage. "I don't mean to question your thoughts, but why not order team ten back and send more qualified ninja to complete this mission?"

The Hokage nodded at this question. "I understand your concerns Kakashi, but I believe that team ten and team seven combined will be enough to complete this mission. I also believe that this will act as a good experience for both teams. Besides it's not like I'm only sending the Genins out, you and Asuma will be with them as well."

Once again Naruto decided to speak for his team. "Like we said earlier, we accept!"

The Hokage looked towards Kakashi and the rest of team seven. Sasuke looked slightly happy, or was he smug. The Hokage couldn't tell. Sakura looked unsure and unhappy from the reactions of her two teammates.

Kakashi just shook his head. "I guess team seven will head out and assist team ten. Alright everyone meet at the gates in two hours. Be sure to pack supplies."

"Good answer cyclops! We'd have made your life miserable if you denied us this chance."Naruto said before leaping out the window he came in.

The Hokage couldn't help but chuckle at Kakashi's expense as said Jonin sighed before leaving via leaf body flicker while his other two students took the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Three days later<strong>

Upon arriving in Wave, team seven could just smell the despair that emanated from the water surrounded village. But for Naruto none of this mattered as he was bothered by the fact that the mission he discarded turned out to be the adventure he wanted.

Making their way though town, it didn't take them long to arrive at the clients house. Once there they met their client, Tazuna. Just as Naruto believed, the man was an alcoholic as his breathe reeked of sake. Naruto easily ignored this while his team made their way to a guest room, only to discover that Asuma was bedridden.

Both Ino and Choji immediately seemed relieved when they saw their much needed support. Surprisingly Ino didn't pounce on Sasuke as she normally would and instead stayed by her sensei's side. Seeing as the original leader was down, Kakashi decided to take charge and investigate.

"What happened to Asuma, and where's your third member?"

Ino decided to be the one that explained for her team, while Choji didn't seem to have the confidence to talk at the moment.

"Shikamaru is outside keeping watch and Asuma…" she paused for a moment.

"Asuma got injured when fighting a missing nin. I don't remember his name; Asuma sensei kind of mumbled it."

Choji decided to put his two cents in. "Asuma sensei said his name was Zabuza."

Kakashi's lone eye widened. "You mean Zabuza Momochi?"

Choji merely nodded his head in response. Looking over Asuma, Kakashi didn't doubt Ino and Choji's claim. Asuma had many blood soaked bandages wrapped around what Kakashi could only guess were lacerations.

"Ino I need you to give me a detailed report of the fight." said Kakashi.

Giving an affirmative nod, Ino began explaining how they crossed over by boat and were attacked by Zabuza shortly afterwards. The fight had gone good for Asuma at the beginning, but a slip up landed him trapped in a water prison. Luckily team ten had been able to free Asuma. Unfortunately Zabuza had been able to land a few slashes and Asuma had started to lose thanks to a mixture of fatigue and blood lost.

At the end Asuma had been able to turn things around using one of his wind jutsu and had slammed Zabuza across a few trees, knocking him out. But before Asuma could give Zabuza the finishing blow, a Kiri hunter nin beat him to the punch with a few senbon needles to the neck and afterwards carried Zabuza's body away.

Naruto couldn't help but get excited at the tale, yet sad at the thought that most likely, there wouldn't be anymore missing nins to take on after Zabuza.

Once Ino finished telling him what he needed to know Kakashi decided to speak again. "Thank you Ino. I have a feeling that things won't settle down yet, but I want to talk to Asuma before I start jumping to conclusions. Naruto I want you to go and keep watch with Shikamaru. In a couple of hours, I'll send two others to replace you."

Naruto simply nodded before exiting the house.

* * *

><p><strong>Two days later<strong>

All members of team ten and seven were crowded in one of the spare bedroom of Tazuna's house. Asuma had just woken up and Kakashi was confirming what he already thought.

"So you also believe that hunter nin was just Zabuza's partner." said Kakashi.

Asuma nodded before putting a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it.

"Unfortunately that not only means that Zabuza's alive, but that he has back up. An unknown."

Naruto, who was using his chakra to stick his feet against the wall while leaning his back against it as well in some strange form of sitting, couldn't help but smile.

'We may have our chance yet!'

Choji chewed on chips as he responded. "_Munch munch,_ I don't see what the problem is_. Munch munch,_ Now that Kakashi is here, _munch,_ there are two Jonins here. _Munch."_

Asuma shook his head. "We only have one Jonin capable of fighting. I'm not sure if my wounds will heal before Zabuza reappears. And we don't know how strong this unknown partner is. For all we know, he could be as powerful as Zabuza."

Ino was the first to ask the well known question. "Then what are we going to do? It's not like we can actually fight someone of Zabuza's level!"

Kakashi chose now to intervene. "Well first we're going to start you off with some training. You might not be able to take on a Jonin, at least not alone. But with a little training and if the six of you work together, you should be able to at least fend off one."

Half of the Genins seemed worried while the other half held different emotions. Naruto and Sasuke were excited. Sasuke was looking forward to proving himself while Naruto simply looked forward to the challenge. Shikamaru was among those that weren't nervous, though his emotion was simply a lack of care.

Kakashi looked at Naruto, and how he was sticking to the wall.

"Well Naruto seeing as your such a master of what I want the others to train on, why don't you explain how it's done."

Naruto gave a confused look towards Kakashi. "What do you want us to explain cyclops? How do you expect us to explain something when you don't tell us what you want us to explain?"

Kakashi let out a sigh before giving the Genins a sign to follow. He took them outside of the house and a few feet into the forest before stopping.

"Ok Naruto, what I want you to explain is how to do the tree walking exercise."

Once again Naruto gave a confused look. "The what?"

Kakashi wanted to slap his own face before he responded. "The way you cling to surfaces, that is typically known as chakra clinging, or thanks to the fact that most start off by climbing up trees, the tree climbing exercise."

"Ooooohhhhh." was Naruto's response, while he laughed internally.

He understood full well what Kakashi was asking him earlier, but Kakashi seemed to have a liking towards being cryptic. Naruto enjoyed frustrating the Jonin by acting naïve thus forcing the Jonin to explain in detail what he was telling or asking them.

Walking towards the tree, Naruto easily walked up the tree at a slow pace.

"In order for you to cling to surfaces you need to focus a certain amount of chakra to your feet to insure you stick. Too much and you repel yourself from the surface, too little and you won't stick, at least not very long."

Kakashi nodded at Naruto's explanation. "Very good. Also as you begin, you might want to get a running start."

With that said Kakashi threw a kunai in front of five trees.

"Mark the tree at each attempt. This way you can keep track on how far you've reached. Naruto, I'll go watch over Tazuna today. Watch over their progress, and help them if they need it."

Naruto gave a mock salute as Kakashi left. Looking back at the others Naruto gave a questioning look.

"So what are you guys waiting on, a starting bell?"

As if he actually rung it, the five began running up the tree, well four ran up their tree while Shikamaru decided to take it slow. Oddly enough it was Sakura who made it the farthest, with Ino only a few steps behind her. Choji and Sasuke had gone up a tenth of their tree before having to jump off due to lack of control.

While Shikamaru had yet to leap off his tree, he was going at a snails pace.

"Looks like Shikamaru's got the right mind set." Naruto whispered to himself.

Redirecting his attention to the two girls, Naruto saw that they had yet to retry.

"Sakura, Ino, what are you doing sitting around?"

"We've already proven we have great chakra control, we don't have to do this training." said Sakura with Ino giving a supporting "Yeah."

Naruto shook his head at this. "Keep repeating the exercise. It'll be good for you."

Ino looked unconvinced. "How many times do we have to do it?"

"Over and over and over again till we say stop!"

Sasuke who was trying to focus on climbing his tree decided to put in his two cents.

"And what are you going to do while we're doing this, idiot!"

Naruto's chuckle caused Sakura to freeze as she feared the worst for Sasuke. She let out a breathe she didn't know she was holding when Naruto spoke instead of beginning to tear into Sasuke.

"Ooohhh it's not what we're going to do that should be the question." Naruto said as he reached for his back pocket. "The real question is what's Kakashi sensei going to do?"

Both Sasuke and Sakura immediately stopped as Naruto held the all familiar book that Kakashi was constantly reading.

"Naruto you didn't!" Sakura yelled.

Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru all gave confused looks to each other before dismissing the occurrence and decided to go back to their training.

Naruto opened the book and began reading. "I've always wandered what these little orange books hold. I mean, even the old man has a few of them stashed away."

Sasuke returned to his training with renewed vigor, the thought of Naruto actually being able to pickpocket a Jonin infuriated him. Sakura just shook her head as the action was only typical of Naruto.

Nearly thirty minutes later, Naruto took his attention off the book and checked how the five were doing. While they all were beginning to sweat, Naruto was sure there was another way to make things interesting.

Looking between the current page he was on and his teammates, a wicked grin spread across his face.

"Satoru's hands glided across Kari's naked flesh, brushing across her erect pink tit and giving her breast a firm squeeze. A honey filled moan was released as a reward from Kari as she enjoyed the feel of his rough, calloused hands."

The effect was immediate. Ino who was taking a break turned beat red while Sakura nearly fell off the limb she was standing on. Shikamaru was forced to finally fall from his tree, a nose bleed as his undoing. Sasuke slipped and ended up slamming his face into the dirt and Choji, who was running towards his tree, ended up fumbling forward till he slammed his face into his tree.

Once they all recovered, they looked towards Naruto. Shikamaru, Ino, and Sakura were too shocked and embarrassed to do more than gawk. Sasuke and Choji on the other hand had enough pain on their face to allow them to send heated glares toward Naruto.

Naruto for his part was too caught up laughing his ass off to care.

* * *

><p>Tazuna entered his house with Kakashi following him. The second Kakashi entered the dining area he felt two sets of eyes, giving him all the female fury they could. Kakashi gave a dulled look in return.<p>

'Greeeeaaat. First I've lost my book, and now I have to deal with two teenage girls. What else can go wrong?'

Taking his place at the table, Kakashi looked around to notice that aside from Tazuna, his daughter Tsunami, and her son, that Asuma had joined them as well with the aid of some crutches.

Another thing he noticed was that Naruto seemed to be in a rather good mood.

"So Naruto how did their training go?"

The seemingly innocent question seemed to cause a mixture of reactions from the Genins, though embarrassment seemed to be the more common feeling.

Naruto's chuckle didn't bode well to Kakashi. 'Ok Naruto what did you do?'

"Don't worry sensei, we believe they did well. Though I'd have to say I'm more proud of our team bonding than anything else."

Kakashi's lone eye brow rose. "Team bonding?"

Naruto's chuckle began turning into a snicker. "Yeah! We decided to read them a story to help us bond."

'Oh a story. That's not so OH DEAR GOD THAT'S MY BOOK.'

Naruto pulled out the orange book and brandished it in front of Kakashi.

"We decided to read them a story from your book. Hope you don't mind."

Asuma fell back laughing. "Oh god, I knew something was up I just coul…." He stopped laughing and wrapped his arm around his torso in a pained expression. "Ow oohhh, my stitches." he said between laughes.

* * *

><p><strong>Three days later<strong>

Kakashi and Asuma watched over their students except for Naruto who was sent to guard Tazuna as he worked on building his bridge. At the moment the two were discussing their teams. Asuma had just finished talking about his team and the plans he had for them.

"So Kakashi, how do you believe your team is doing?"

Kakashi gave a sigh. "My team is doing ok, I guess. I just have concerns over Naruto and Sasuke.

Asuma pulled a cigarette and lit it. "Well you knew those two didn't get along."

"Well yeah, but not to this extent. I tried forming a rivalry between them once-"

"And let me guess. Naruto blew that plan up." Asuma interrupted.

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"Kurenai told me a bit of what she learned about Naruto from when she was experimenting genjutsu on him. Naruto doesn't believe in rivalries. The person before you is either a friend or foe, no in betweens."

"So what do I do? The team suffers so long as Sasuke and Naruto hate each other. I've tried several team work exercises, tried rivalries, and have even tried getting them to understand each other." Kakashi stated.

Asuma rolled the cigarette in his mouth. "Maybe you're just approaching things wrong. You've been trying to get both to get along. Maybe you just need to have one of them understood the other or something. Naruto isn't really an ass, he just doesn't let anyone push him around or get way with insulting him."

Asuma took a drag off his cigarette before continuing. "Sasuke believes that being an Uchiha makes him superior. If you can get him to realize that, at the very least, Naruto is his equal. Maybe he will stop trying to treat Naruto like dirt. And then maybe Naruto won't treat him like a punching bag."

Kakashi took a moment to think over what he'd been told. "You really think that'll work?"

"Nope." was Asuma's simple reply, Kakashi giving an annoyed look in response.

"Well thanks for the help." Kakashi said sarcastically.

Asuma shook his head. "Your best bet is that Naruto gets bumped up to Chunin."

"That won't stop them from being on the same team." Kakashi stated.

"No, but it will get Naruto away from the team, or at least Sasuke every now and then."

A nod from Kakashi showed he agreed.

While Kakashi and Asuma continued their conversation, Sakura and Ino began conversing about the blonde teen as well.

"Geez Sakura, Naruto hasn't changed at all since the academy. He's either being an ass or annoying." Ino stated.

Sakura shook her head and she began running up her tree again.

"He can be annoying every now and then, but he usually isn't an ass. You kind of got to provoke it from him. I mean when has he snapped at us or been mean to us during our entire trip?"

Ino shrugged her shoulders. "Well he hasn't been an ass, but I still can't believe he read that book out loud while we were training."

Sakura blushed as she remembered the occasion. "Well luckily he's guarding Tazuna today, so we won't have to worry."

'Thank god for that.' Ino thought.

"It could have been a lot worse." Shikamaru added, deciding against his nature to get involved in the conversation.

"How so?" Ino asked.

Sakura and Choji decided to listen in as well.

"He could have replaced the character's name and description with ours. Truth be told I'm surprised he didn't."

Both Ino and Sakura paled at the thought, though Ino sported a slight blush as she thought of her name replacing Kari's and Sasuke's replacing Satoru's.

Each Genin got the thought out of their minds and went back to their training.

Soon afterwards Kakashi began approaching them. "Alright I think that's enough for today. Naruto and Tazuna should be returning to the house any second."

* * *

><p><strong>Three days later<strong>

Naruto slept on a black hammock out in the woods as his light breathes were the only real sound. His hammock took on a spider web like pattern and if one were to look close enough, they would see that Naruto's sleeping arrangement was slightly melded to his back.

Why was he sleeping out in the woods? There was a rather simple answer for that. He didn't want to commit murder. Tsunami's son had one day criticized the ninjas at the table, telling them how stupid they are for going up against Gato and how they were going to die. He further went on to say how none of them knew anything about suffering and pain when Sasuke boasted on how Gato's men had never fought ninja before.

Naruto had been livid upon hearing the boys pessimistic whining and ended up leaving in order to vent his rage. Despite having a bad temper, Naruto knew that ripping the boy in half wouldn't solve anything and instead chose to take his anger out on a few trees. But ever since then Naruto chose to only be around the house for food or seeing what the Jonins had planned and nothing else.

His eyes fluttered open as he began to stretch and wake. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes before standing. As he stood, the hammock slowly began to meld into his clothes till they were back to their original state.

'Guess I should head back to Tazuna's house and find out what we're doing today.' were Naruto's thoughts before making his way back.

As he walked he began to pick up weird signs through the woods. At first he ignored the slash marks on the trees, but when he noticed how numerous they were he began to grow curious. A close look at the ground showed two sets of tracks and he couldn't help but dislike the fact that they were going in the same direction he intended. It was when the smell of blood hit his nose that he began running forward. Before long his run turned into a sprint and then into leaps.

Jumping off one tree, he looked down at the carcass of a boar. Open wounds riddled the animal's body and a touch of it told Naruto it hadn't died long ago. Looking forward Naruto saw more tracks and decided to follow them. Just because he found one source of blood didn't mean he wouldn't find another. And if he could help it, he would prevent the spilling of innocent blood.

* * *

><p>Asuma Sarutobi had heard the ruckus down stairs almost immediately. The sudden rise of his body caused pain to shot through him and remind him of his condition. Despite that he tried to get up and make his way down stairs.<p>

Making his way around the hall, he began to hear voices as who ever was invading the house felt confident that they would succeed in whatever they were doing. Suddenly Asuma was reminded of the owners of the house as he heard Tsunami beg whoever was intruding

He quickened his pace, hoping to protect both Tsunami and her son. Unfortunately his haste had caused him to trip. The sound he made alerted the two goons and Asuma cursed as he heard one of them making their way towards him.

'Maybe this is for the best.' Asuma thought as he grabbed one of his trench knives.

He prepared himself as the footsteps got louder and readied his hand to strike. His opportunity never came as the two intruders turned their attention to something else. A fight broke out between a new comer and thugs. Whoever the person was, he took out the two brutally but quick. The sounds of hard, powerful hits echoed towards Asuma and the obvious sound of a neck snapping was the last he heard before silence filled the house.

It almost seemed that the fight was over as quick as it started and Asuma decided to make his way to the living room. Once there he saw two dead bodies near the center while Tsunami and her son were huddled in a corner.

"What happened?" Asuma asked.

After giving her son an assuring whisper she turned to Asuma. "Those guys came, hired thugs of Gato. And Naruto killed them."

Asuma thanked her before going over and checking the two corpses. Just as he thought, one of them had been killed via broken neck. But the other had died from internal bleeding. Further study revealed an already showing bruise over the man's temple and a sideways foot print sunk into the man's chest. If Asuma had to guess, he'd say that Naruto had punched the man over the head to stun him before kicking the man's chest in, crushing his rib cage while simultaneously causing the new broken bones to rip and tear the flesh around them.

'A little brutal for a ninja, but efficient none the least.'

* * *

><p>Tazuna's unfinished bridge was covered in a thick fog and the sound of fighting could be heard.<p>

Sakura stood in front of Tazuna as his only guard while the rest of her team and partners fought. Zabuza, who was wearing a sleeveless blue shirt along with urban camo pants fought with a giant sword that stood nearly as tall as himself against Kakashi. The masked Konoha nin had raised his headband to reveal a healthy mature Sharingon eye.

While Kakashi and Zabuza fought, team ten stood outside of an ice dome. The trio watched as Sasuke tried to fight Zabuza's partner, only to be pelted by senbon. Entering the dome was suicide while nothing they did on the outside seemed to harm the dome.

It was this scene that Naruto arrived to as he flipped over the railing of the bridge. The three standing on the outside jumped back and only let go of their tension when they recognized Naruto.

"What's going on here?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru decided to speak for his group. "Troublesome blonde. Sasuke got himself trapped in there. We've tried to help him, but there doesn't seem to be anything we can do. Breaking this ice seems near impossible and the enemy is too fast for us to do anything."

Naruto looked inside the dome just in time to see a flurry of blurs rush from one mirror to the next while Sasuke received a few more senbon into his skin, a fact that caused Ino to gasp.

Walking over to the ice dome, Naruto punched one of the many ice mirrors that acted as its wall.

"Yeah, things solid as they come." Naruto said as he pulled his hand back only to reveal a few small cracks repairing themselves.

"If we can get Sasuke out of there can you get him medical attention?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders. "We can at least pull the needles out, but how are you going to-"

After Naruto heard what he needed to, he jumped in between two of the mirrors. The emergance of the new presence shocked the enemy nin and Sasuke. This shock was all Naruto needed in order to land next to Sasuke and throw him unceremoniously out of the ice dome in one fluid motion.

"That was very noble of you. But now you're trapped in here."

Naruto looked at the enemy nin or at least one of the many reflections of him. His enemy wore his black hair in a white bun except for two bangs that framed his face and wore a brown turtle neck under a short green kimono with white trimming, tied off with a greenish brown obi. A pair of loose pants that matched the color of his turtle neck along with a pair of sandals made up the lower portion of his body. The only other features that Naruto took note of was the green finger nail polish and the hunter nin mask his enemy wore.

"Noble? Anything we do concerning Sasuke can't be considered noble. To him, us saving his life is nothing but a spit on his face. As far as being trapped is concerned, We don't believe in such a thing."

Naruto didn't see the raised eyebrow on his enemies face. "We?"

"It's how we refer to ourselves. Now how should we refer to you?"

The enemy nin stayed silent for a moment before replying. "Call me Haku. And how should I refer to you all?"

Naruto chuckled at how Haku asked his question. "We're Naruto."

As soon as that was said, Naruto jumped to the side and immediately flipped forward. Senbon embedded the ground where Naruto once was as he flipped from one spot to the next.

Team ten watched Naruto as he used his acrobatic skills to dodge the projectiles. They couldn't help but be amazed by the site. Ino, who was pulling the senbon from Sasuke's body nearly froze in her work from the sight.

Sasuke only glared as once again he gave witness to being out done by the blonde.

Suddenly the barrage of needles stopped and Naruto stood in the center.

"Impressive, you're certainly quick on your feet. I wonder how long your fancy flips will save you before I hit my mark." said Haku.

"The same can be said for this jutsu of yours." Naruto stated.

What no one knew was that Naruto had been try to hit Haku using his leg like an ax kick during his flips. Unfortunately he had yet to land a hit. Once again blurs filled the dome and hails of senbon rained down forcing Naruto to stay moving.

Naruto's fighter instincts kicked in and he began to notice certain things that people outside of the dome might not take notice of. Like how despite the constant rain of senbon only a handful was thrown at a time. Or how Haku's blurred movements never crossed the center of the dome and instead went from one mirror to the diagonally closest. A thought hit Naruto as he continued studying his opponent.

'He's not as fast as everyone thinks he is. He only appears that way with how fast he's moving between mirrors.'

Another thing Naruto began to notice was the slight bits of water dripping down the mirrors. Just as he was beginning to question this, Haku stopped once again.

"Tell me, what do you fight for?" Haku asked.

'Why give us these breaks.' Naruto thought "An odd question. I guess we fight for what we believe is right. Why do you fight?"

Haku shook his head."You're in the wrong business then. As for your question, I fight for the one person who has given my life meaning."

Naruto could care less about Haku's reason to fight. His question was merely a means to buy time.

'That's it! These breaks and small conversations he starts with us are merely to buy time. But for what?" Naruto thought.

His mind went back to the small drops of water forming on the ice mirrors and he looked at them now only to see frost upon the mirrors. His mind began filling in the spots and soon after he finally understood Haku's jutsu.

Haku leapt from his mirror once again and Naruto went on the move once more except at a slower pace. He wanted his opponent to think he was beginning to slow down and allowing a few senbon to pierce him was an added bonus to aid in his deceit. Naruto used his lesser speed to allow him to monitor Haku's movements more closely and waited for the perfect time to strike.

A blur clearer than usual of Haku came into his vision and Naruto didn't waste anytime in throwing his fist forward while unleashing a small tendril of his symbiote. Haku had been struck by the sticky substance and in turn retaliated with a hand full of senbon. Naruto didn't even attempt to dodge them and instead used Haku's momentum against him and swung his tendril sideways, guiding Haku straight into the ground.

Before Haku could even react, he felt himself sent airborne towards Naruto, thanks to the still connected tendril and set back towards the ground from a strong right hook. Haku didn't allow himself to stay dazed for long and tried to get into one of his mirrors when he discovered that Naruto's black tendril was no longer attached to himself.

Unfortunately for him, Naruto attached yet another tendril and yanked up on it to send him airborne. While his opponent was no longer touching the ground Naruto pulled his tendril over his shoulder and down. This act sent Haku crashing into the ground once more and Before he could even get to his feet, an upper cut from Naruto sent him flying once more.

A quick turn from Haku revealed that he was heading towards one of his mirror. A little hope filled him as he prepared to sink back into his protective ice. But things didn't turn out as Haku wanted, for as soon as he entered his mirror, Naruto's fist crashed through one end and sent Haku out the other.

Haku rolled several times against the harsh ground and his mask broke apart from the abuse Naruto put upon it.

Naruto stopped in front of Haku's laying body.

"How did you break through my ice mirror?" Haku's asked in a defeated tone.

Naruto allowed a smile of pride to grace his face, though his mask blocked most of it. "You have to be inside your mirrors in order to pump chakra into them, so they are sustained. It was the reason you would take breaks in between volleys. You would talk to us in order to distract us from the water that was formed from your ice melting. After discovering this it was rather easy to find out that your jutsu would weaken if you had been forced away from them long enough."

Just as Naruto finished talking, Haku's other ice mirrors broke apart and fell to the ground and melted.

"I see." Haku said. "Then I've become a useless tool."

Naruto used both of his hands to grab Haku's collar and pulled him up so that they were looking each other in the eyes.

"Tool? What do you mean?" Naruto questioned

Haku didn't seem bothered by Naruto's action. "I am Zabuza's tool, for he gave me purpose. And a tool that does not serve its purpose becomes useless."

Naruto's look told Haku that he still didn't understand. So he decided to tell Naruto his tale. Haku told Naruto how he defended himself from his father and how the results turned him into his father's murderer. How Zabuza found him a year or so later when he was homeless and how the man took him in and gave him a purpose.

Naruto stood and allowed Haku to tell his tale, listening to every detail and so forth. He understood how it felt to be feared for something you have no control of. The feeling of being alone and having to fend for yourself. Had the symbiote not bonded to him, Naruto couldn't help but realize that Haku's life could have been his own. Some powerful ninja, finding him and deciding to manipulate him for his or her own agenda. It would have been far too easy.

Despite all this Naruto understood another fact. That he and Haku were enemies at the moment and no amount of pity would change that. But it did change how Naruto would handle the situation.

"You've had a tough life, We can sympathize with you. We can't just let you go, but we won't kill you." with that said Naruto reared his head back and slammed it onto Haku's.

The impact caused Haku's eyes to roll back into his head, successfully knocking him out. After wards Naruto wrapped a tendril of his symbiote around Haku multiple times until he was sure he couldn't break out of it. As a finishing touch, he sent two more pieces of his symbiote to splatter around Haku's hands to insure he couldn't cast a jutsu. So long as Naruto kept contact with the bindings, they wouldn't disintegrate.

It was at this time that the fog lifted and revealed a victorious Kakashi standing over a dead Zabuza. Team ten and Sakura spirits rose as they could clearly see Kakashi and Naruto, but they weren't allowed much rest when a short man accompanied by nearly a hundred hired thugs showed up.

* * *

><p>Naruto and the others began packing their stuff as they prepared to leave. Also making sure that his prisonerguest was still tied up. Haku simply fixed Naruto with a blank stare while this was happening.

The man that showed up after the fight on the bridge was none other than Gato. Feeling confident that Zabuza and Haku had weakened the Konoha nin enough so that lowly mercenaries could kill them, Gato decided to appear in person and watch. A fatal mistake, especially when he tried to make an exchange to Naruto for Haku. Naruto's only response was to tell the man to "Come over here and try, you little bastard" followed by flipping him off.

Afterwards Gato ordered his thugs to kill them only to find that while the Konoha nins were outnumbered, they were not outclassed.

Kakashi, while tired had still been able to fight and Sasuke had recovered enough to help. Team ten had yet to see any real action and had also joined the fight in a fresh state. Naruto would admit that his fight against Haku had not been easy, but wouldn't say he was anywhere near being tired.

Surprisingly despite the number of men, it hadn't taken long for the nins to take out over half of them and scaring away the rest. Before Gato could attempt to leave, Naruto had cut the man off while still holding onto Haku. The small man had whimpered and begged for mercy only to receive Naruto's twisted form of it. Setting Haku aside Naruto easily picked up the small man and knelt so that one of his knees faced towards the sky before slamming the man down onto it. Gato's back connected with Naruto's knee and a multitude of sickening cracks rang out, much to many of the Genins horror and slight nausea.

Kakashi walked up stairs in order to check on Naruto. Opening the door, Kakashi instantly felt the glare Haku gave him but ignored it. Naruto had told Haku all about what happened after his defeat. While Haku showed no emotion most of the time, Kakashi presence evoked such hate that it almost rivaled Naruto's hate for Sasuke.

"You about ready Naruto?"

Naruto nodded before picking up his travel pack and hoisting Haku's still bonded body over his shoulder. Once that was done he joined his fellow ninja outside the house before they left towards Konoha. Asuma was still reliant on a crutch to walk around though that would change once they returned to Konoha and had a good medic heal him up properly.

While they walked Naruto felt some of his team members staring at him. He turned his head to find that it was Sasuke, Kakashi and Shikamaru who were looking at him.

"What?"

Sasuke turned his head away and grunted while Kakashi decided to ask a question.

"What do you plan to do with your prisoner and what is that stuff you've restrained him with?"

Naruto nodded his head as he thought these were legitimate questions.

"We plan to get him help. And the stuff around him is something we created."

Kakashi waited for Naruto to add on and gave him a bored look when Naruto didn't. Instead of pressing on he dropped the subject as past incidents revealed to him that Naruto wouldn't reveal what he didn't want to.

Naruto gave Shikamaru a questioning look and the lazy nin looked away after saying. "Troublesome.

Once Naruto no longer felt the stares, he concentrated on moving forward, and questioning himself of how he was going to make his request to the Hokage.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Alright, I'll be honest. I don't want to hear any complaints about how I described Haku's jutsu. I've looked around many Naruto sites and I haven't found anything that says what I did in this chapter isn't possible. Also I don't plan to reveal my intentions for Haku, so don't ask or give suggestions on it. I know what I plan to do with him and I won't change my mind. I'm sorry if I seem aggressive but past experiences have shown that if I don't out right tell some of you NO, then you bug me about it over, and over, and over again. Example: Whirlpools rebirth, several readers kept trying to convince me to give Naruto sage mode and I kept being kind about rejecting it till the chapter came and I just blew up and said NO.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4:Let the Exams Begin

Along Came a Symbiote

Author's Note:Sorry for the long wait, you can thank killjoy for giving me the extra omph to finish the chapter.

**IMPORTANT:** Alright Haku is male, someone said there is no proof but if any of you own or have seen the the collector books, they state that Haku is male. And if you don't you can check Narutopedia, a site that has all the information from the collector books. I have nothing against female Haku being paired with Naruto, I don't like gender bending but I have nothing against it either.

That being said enjoy the chapter and please leave a review. The better quality and more reviews I get, the more I'll feel like working on this story.

Chapter 4:Let the Exams Begin

* * *

><p>It had been nearly a month since the events of Wave and Naruto made his way to the psychiatric ward of the hospital. Haku was in room one-forty-two and Naruto was making his weekly visit. When team seven and team ten returned after their A rank mission, Naruto waited till only he and the Hokage were the ones in the room when he made his request.<p>

It was a simple request; give Haku therapy so that hopefully he would one day be able to move on with his life. The Hokage only asked for one thing in return and that was for Naruto to visit Haku's room at least once a week, a request that Naruto easily accepted.

Signing in at the front desk Naruto made his way down a hall before opening a door on his right. Haku registered the door opening and watched as Naruto came in, taking a seat on a chair nearby.

"Hey Haku, how they treating you?" Naruto asked.

Haku looked out of the window, ignoring Naruto's question.

The feminine male's lack of attention didn't discourage Naruto as this had been how Haku had become ever since Zabuza's death. Only one person could get any emotion out of Haku and that was hate, hate for murdering the one he called master.

"Yeah Scarecrow gave us forms to sign up for the Chunin exams this morning." Naruto said while smiling as he saw the angry look on Haku's face form at Naruto new nickname for Kakashi.

Ever since he learned that Kakashi had two healthy eyes, he changed his nickname for the man to something that would fit. In the end he took the meaning of his sensei's name to create his new nickname, much to Kakashi's dismay.

"If all goes well we'll be Chunin soon."

Haku still didn't respond though he removed the snarl from his face. Naruto got up and walked over to Haku's chart.

"Patient refuses to cooperate. We believe a Yamanaka would be more effective at helping." Naruto read off the chart.

Naruto shook his head. "Haku, you don't want a Yamanaka searching through your mind. Once they find out that you killed your parents they will want to discuss it with you."

A frown appeared on Haku's face. "Why did you bring me here? Why did you ask your Kage to put me here, to help me?"

"We were hoping to give you a new start. Possibly a new life. What would you do without Zabuza?"

Haku didn't hesitate with his reply. "What I want to do now. Die."

Naruto let out a sigh before exiting the room. He had tried time and time again to help Haku only to receive either silence or a talk similar to the one he just had.

Once outside Naruto leapt onto the nearest building before making his way through Konoha. After swinging and leaping two miles Naruto spotted team ten heading towards a barbecue restaurant. Seeing them Naruto jumped to a building in front of them before using one of his tendrils to lower himself.

Team ten spotted Naruto and waved towards him. This had been another change in his life after the Wave mission. Shikamaru had taken an odd interest in Naruto and Ino had begun to see what Sakura saw. Choji took a bit longer to warm up to Naruto as he was still sore over Kakashi's copy of Make out Paradise being read out loud during their training.

"Hey Naruto what are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto shrugged his shoulder. "Nothing much. We just got back from visiting Haku."

Ino perked up hearing about the young man. "So any changes in his mood?"

A shake of Naruto's head was all that was needed in response.

Deciding to change the subject Shikamaru spoke once more. "Troublesome. So, is team seven signing up for the Chunin exams?"

Naruto nodded."As far as we know. Then again Sakura could decide she isn't ready."

"Want me to go goad her into participating?" Ino asked.

"Thanks, but no. If Sakura decides she isn't ready to participate then we won't push it."

Ino shrugged her shoulders. "It's your call. Well we were about to eat. Feel like joining us?"

Naruto gave a nod and followed them in.

* * *

><p>Once done eating Naruto began heading home as he saw nothing else to do. As usual a meal with team ten involved fighting over food portions as the Akamichi had begun shoveling the food into his mouth the second he thought it was done. Naruto and Choji had almost gotten into a fist fight over the last piece of grilled beef. Just as the thought of slamming the large kids face into the grill occurred, Ino intervened and ate the last piece. The fact that she had taken the last piece had shocked both teens to the point that they hadn't been able to react in time before she swallowed it.<p>

Taking his mind off the meal he just had, a fence surrounded street caught Naruto's attention. There he saw two Suna nins and his teammate Sakura with a few kids. One of the Suna nin, a fifteen year old male, wore what appeared to be a black one piece ninja suit with a cat like cowl over his head while purple war paint crisscrossed over his face. On his back as a bandaged contraption and he held one of the kids off the ground by the scruff of his shirt.

The second Suna nin was a female around the same age as the first that wore a light purple off the shoulder garment that went down to her knees while what appeared like a full body mesh covered her exposed shoulders and stopped at her thighs with one of the legs going a bit further than the other. A red sash wrapped around her waist and a large folded fan was wedged between her back and her sash. Her hair was a sandy blonde and was put in an interesting style of four bushy pony tails in the back while two bushy bangs stopped at her teal eyes.

'You have to admire a deadly woman with style.' thought Naruto.

As Naruto watched what happen from his comfy spot on the roof, his only real question was how he was going to intervene. Sneak up behind the pair and scare the hell out of them or jump down in front of them and scare them none the less. A look at their head bands helped Naruto's decision.

'Must be here for the Chunin exams; better not show anything I don't want them to know.'

"Kankuro let's go, we're going to be late." said the blonde Suna nin.

Kankuro just waved her off. "Just a second Temari, I want to teach this kid a lesson."

Sakura was going to make another attempt to defuse the situation when the little kid began yelling.

"Do you know who I am? I'm the grandson of the Hokage!"

"I don't care who you are kid. You don't go around bumping into others without apologizing." Kankuro replied.

No one saw the slowly growing shadow that appeared in front of Kankuro. Naruto didn't even try to make his landing soft and instead purposely hit the ground as hard as he could. A spider web of cracks appeared beneath his boots and Kankuro fell on his ass from the surprise.

Naruto ignored the make-up wearing nin and looked at the small boy.

"Konohamaru! What have we told you about abusing your status as the Hokage's grandson?"

The now free boy began cowering. "That if you ever c-c-c-caught me doing it again y-y-you wouldn't just dangle me over the Inuzuka hounds pen as you did the last time and would t-t-t-throw me in, c-c-covered in bacon."

"Good, now why shouldn't we keep our promise?" Naruto asked.

At this point Kankuro had gotten back and his feet and pointed at Naruto. "Hey asshole what's the big deal?"

Naruto turned his attention on Kankuro. "Shut it make-up boy, we'll deal with you in a sec!"

Kankuro gave a growl as he prepared to reach for the bandaged contraption on his back only for a rock to smash into his knuckle.

Without look, Naruto point a balled up first towards one of the trees and shot a ball of his symbiote from the back of his hand. All eyes turned towards the tree Naruto pointed at only to find Sasuke on one of its limbs, struggling to get the black goop off of his mouth.

"Sasuke the men are talking right now. Please don't butt in again." Naruto said followed by some laughter.

Sasuke for his part simply glared at Naruto, unable to shout his rage with the black substance covering his mouth, while Sakura attempted to scold Naruto.

"Naruto why did you do that? Sasuke was only trying to help!"

'Yeah, help his ego. If he hadn't decided to act cool we could have seen what make-up boy had hidden away there.' thought Naruto.

A new presence appeared in the tree Sasuke was in and only Naruto seemed to sense him.

"Sasuke get out of that tree NOW!"

Despite his ego, Sasuke obeyed and jumped over to where Sakura was. Everyone gave Naruto a weird look while he simply glared at the tree. His glare suddenly shifted from the tree to the spot behind Temari and Kankuro where a cloud of sand dispersed to reveal a short red headed teen.

Following his gaze, both Suna nins seemed to freeze in fear.

"G-Gaara." said Temari.

Gaara carried a large gourd on his back and wore a full body suit like Kankuro's except short sleeved and brown. A large leather strap that held the gourd up wrapped around his body diagonally while white cloth wrapped around the other side of his body, intersecting with the leather strap. His green eyes had raccoon like rings around them and the symbol for love seemed to have been tattooed in red ink on the left side of his forehead.

Naruto didn't let his guard down one bit, and was ready to defend himself and his team at a seconds notice. He might not have been the nine-tails jinchuuriki anymore, but his symbiote had spent enough time studying the tailed beast to recognize the foul chakra of it and its fellow demons.

Naruto and Gaara stood and stared at each other for a good two minutes before Gaara turned to Kankuro.

"You are pathetic Kankuro." before turning around and walking away Gaara looked towards the Konoha nin. "I'm sorry for my brother's stupidity. Temari, Kankuro, we're leaving."

Kankuro began sputtering in response. "B-But Gaara."

"Kankuro… shut up or I'll kill you." This had succeeded in quieting the make up wearing boy and Gaara turned to the Konoha group once more as if forgetting something.

Pointing towards Naruto, Gaara asked a simple question. "What's your name?"

"_We_ are Naruto. And _We_ will be seeing you soon!" he said, making sure to put emphasis on we.

A manic grin appeared on Gaara's face. "_We_? Hehehe, yes _we_ will be seeing each other soon."

With that the Suna nins walked off and disappeared from sight. Sakura looked towards Naruto confused. She had never seen him this hostile except for Sasuke and even then he never showed this level of seriousness.

Naruto reached over to Sasuke and ripped off the small piece of symbiote before leaving. Sasuke had managed to hide the pain that was caused from the symbiote being ripped off so abruptly and was wondering the same thing Sakura was wondering.

'What got Naruto so concerned?'

* * *

><p><strong>The next day<strong>

Sasuke floated in the air for a few seconds before gravity seemed to return to normal and he plummeted to the wooden floor. At the last second Sakura appeared beneath him and broke his fall.

On the wall across from them, Naruto sat stuck to the wall and focused on the one responsible for Sasuke's fall. A teenage boy only a year older than Naruto stood in a green skin tight body suit with orange leg warmers and bandages wrapped from his knuckles up to his forearm. His black hair was in a bowl cut while his eyes took on a circular fashion and his thick eyebrows hovered above them.

His name was Rock Lee, and he had just beat Sasuke in three moves. The only thing that had stopped him from knocking Sasuke out and truly claiming victory was a pinwheel that had been thrown at one of the loose bandages and pegged it to the wall.

They had been heading to the room where the first part of the Chunin exams would be held when Rock Lee had stopped them and challenged Sasuke to a fight. Sakura had been worried about the time they had to arrive and Sasuke had confidently said that the fight would only take five minutes.

'Yeah! Five minutes to get your ass handed to you!'

A turtle suddenly appeared next to Lee and soon a bizarre scene began as an older carbon copy of him appeared on top of the turtle. At first Lee was punished and then the two began some weird hug.

'We get that it's weird but why do Sakura and Sasuke seem so disturbed?' thought Naruto as he was oblivious to the genjutsu behind Lee and the new man.

After that fiasco they arrived in front of the designated room and found their sensei waiting for them only to be told that if Sakura hadn't decided to join then they wouldn't have been allowed to continue. Which Naruto thought was hilarious by the fact that if she didn't Sasuke would have gotten his ass kicked for nothing.

Once their talk with Kakashi was over they entered the exam room. Instantly everyone in the room turned their gazes towards them. Naruto simply brushed off the stares and instead watched how Ino leapt onto Sasuke's back, much to his and Sakura's displeasure.

"How can he not like the feel of a woman pressing onto him?" Naruto asked out loud.

"Because it's troublesome." Shikamaru stated.

Turning around, Naruto saw Choji and Shikamaru standing nearby. Naruto let out a chuckle before waving them over.

"Glad to see that it wasn't too troublesome for you to come."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Oh it's troublesome alright. It's just more troublesome to deal with the repercussions of not coming."

Naruto let out a laugh. "Typical."

Three new presences approached the group and Naruto smiled as he saw Shino, Hinata and Kiba.

"Well Shino, it's been a long time since we've seen you. How have things been?"

Shino fixed his sun glasses before answering. "Depends on how you look at it. Peaceful would be a word to describe it yet dull fits just as well."

Hinata blushed as she began to speak. "H-H-How ha-have you been N-Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Things could be worse. Gotta say, life's been good for us."

The other rookie Genin began to be drawn towards Naruto conversation. Kiba saw all the other rookie Genin and decided to boast.

"Well looks like we're all here. Too bad for you guys we're going to win this."

Sasuke let out a "Hn." before making his reply. "Like we'll lose to you."

While the rookies were conversing, Naruto was looking around the room and noticing all the other participants were beginning to stare at them. One guy wearing purple pants and a matching sleeveless shirt over a white short sleeve shirt. He wore round circular glasses and his hair was gray with two bangs hanging over his leaf head and the rest pulled into a low pony tail.

"You guys should quiet down. You're bringing too much attention to yourself and that's not good. Especially for rookies' fresh out of the academy like yourselves." said the glasses wearing Genin.

"Who are you?" asked Sasuke.

The glasses wearing Genin chuckled. "I'm Kabuto, but that's not what you should be worrying about. Take a look behind you."

The Genin stopped talking and turned their attention to the rest of the room and saw what Naruto saw.

The attention seemed to unnerve them while Naruto didn't even seem affected.

"Almost everyone here is nervous about the exams, so quiet down. Then again I can't blame you clueless rookies, you kinda remind me of how I used to be."

"Um Kabuto, is this your second try at the Genin exams?"

A nervous scratch of his head was his first response. "Actually this is my seventh. There are two exams every year, so this is my forth year trying."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, but decided not to comment.

"Wow then you know a lot about these exams." Sakura stated.

Kabuto nodded. "That's right. Here take a look at these." he said as he pulled out a deck of cards.

Pulling one of the cards out, he placed it on the ground before rotating it with his finger and pumping chakra into it.

"These are my ninja info cards. I have over two hundred cards with info on every ninja. Four years of data."

He stopped spinning his card and a puff of smoke appeared and dispersed to reveal a card showing a chart of ninja villages and their statistics. Kabuto then began to talk about the different villages and mentioned a recently started village known as the sound and stated that not much was known.

Sasuke decided to step forward. "Do you have any info on Gaara of the sand and Rock Lee of the leaf?"

"Seeing as you know their names it shouldn't be too hard to find them, though I should warn you that not all the data will be perfect."

Pulling out the two cards, Kabuto proceeded to pump chakra into them till their data was visible and explained their info. Naruto gave Kabuto an odd look.

'Something isn't right. We understand why he would have information on old participants. But why does he have information on participants that have never taken the exams.'

Naruto decided to test something. "We'd like to see the information on Naruto Uzumaki of the leaf."

Everyone gave Naruto an odd look and Kabuto was beginning his procedure. When the card let off a little smoke, Naruto's hand snatched it off the ground before anyone could see it.

'What the hell. There's no way he should know this. This information shouldn't be this accurate.'

The data on the card displayed Naruto immunity to genjutsu and listed his camouflage as a jutsu. Naruto's many escapes from Anbu and other official ninja was stated as well. Various other pieces of information was on the card that while true, Naruto never openly showed it or even revealed it except to the Hokage. The Hokage most likely made a report of his skills and hid it in his desk. So how did Kabuto get ahold of it?

Everyone waited for Naruto to reveal his card, but instead he pocketed it in his jacket and walked away.

"I guess I won't be getting that card back." Kabuto stated.

Naruto suddenly sensed three people quickly pass by him and head straight towards Kabuto. He did nothing and watched as the sound nin attack. One boy threw two kunai at Kabuto's feet, an obvious distraction as another teenage boy with bandages dashed forward and swung his fist in a hook. Kabuto dodged this only to fall over and puke.

Luckily everyone was too focused on Kabuto to notice the grimace that formed on Naruto's face. When the sound nin swung his arm and the contraption let off a high pitched whistle. Naruto felt his skin crawl or to be more specific his symbiote, the sound wasn't strong enough to really hurt him, just sting.

Naruto knew he had two weaknesses that revolved around his symbiote. Fire which was his lesser weakness and high frequency sounds, his larger weakness.

Shortly after the attack, a loud voice boomed over the room and several Konoha nins appeared in front of the room.

"Quiet down you bastards! I'm Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the first part of the exams." said a black trench coat wearing nin.

* * *

><p>The Genin had been randomly placed at desks in the room and each handed a written test. Ibiki explained the rules before giving them the go ahead to begin. Ten minutes into the test Naruto had already discovered the hidden meaning in Ibiki's words and soon turned his test over.<p>

The next second Naruto jumped from his desk to the desk in front of Ibiki, standing in a squat in front of said man so they were at eye level. The Chunins in the room all tried to move but Ibiki's raised hand told them to do nothing.

All the Genin stopped working on their test and watched as the two in the front of the room simply stared at one another for what seemed like forever.

Sasuke and Sakura were too shocked at their team mate's actions to even form thoughts. He had done some brazen acts before, but never something like this.

After a while Naruto's mask seemed to grin. "Does this count as an offense to your rules?"

Ibiki returned the grin. "Well seeing as I don't have the answers I don't think so. If you chose to waste your time, that's your business."

"It's a good thing we're done then isn't it." Naruto stated.

"How'd you finish so quickly?" Ibiki asked.

Naruto snickered. "Cheated."

A few Genins simply looked at Naruto dumbly, especially his team mates.

'Did he just admit to cheating?' was the collective thoughts.

Ignoring the stares at his back, Naruto continued. "You know the old man once threatened us with you."

Ibiki raised an eyebrow. "Old man?"

"The Hokage. He promised that if we didn't calm down when we were young, he'd set up a meeting between me and you."

"You're Naruto Uzumaki, aren't you?" Ibiki asked.

A nod was his response.

"Well I've heard plenty about you."

"Have you heard that we don't play other people's games?" Naruto asked, his voice full of mirth.

"I've heard that you like to step on some toes."

Naruto chuckled. "More like stomp."

Some of the Chunins began calling names and removing Genins from the room as they had been caught cheating five times.

Naruto gave a brief glance behind him before continuing his talk with Ibiki.

"We've heard that you're an interrogator. Got anymore scare tactics other than the ones you've presented so far?"

Ibiki just grinned. "Sure, maybe you will get to experience some of them when you screw up in the future."

"Ha, highly unlikely considering we've never been caught unless we've allowed ourselves to." Naruto stated.

One of the Chunins threw a kunai at a Genin's test paper. "That's five times; you and your team are disqualified."

"What, do you at least have proof that I cheated?" yelled the Genin.

Suddenly the Chunin appeared next to the Genin and slammed him against the wall while saying a few condescending words.

Naruto shook his head. "You know he has a point. If you're going to accuse him of cheating you should at least have proof. It would only be right that the Chunins set an example for us Genins. "

Another Chunin disappeared before everyone's eyes and appeared next to Naruto hoping to repeat the action of his colleague. Unfortunately as he made a grab for Naruto, the blonde Genin ducked at the last minute allowing the Chunin's grab to pass over him. Without missing a beat Naruto's hand grabbed the back of the Chunins head and slammed it into the desk, knocking him out cold.

"Speed doesn't mean anything if you are predictable. So Ibiki, does that count as an offense?"

Ibiki chuckled. "I guess I should count that as strike one."

Looking around the room, Ibiki began noticing how several of the Genins were sending Naruto cautious looks. He began rubbing his chin as he thought over Naruto's actions.

'I know enough about you Naruto to know you're not stupid. So why have you been doing this?'

A few more minutes of thinking and Ibiki openly laughed. Confusing many in the room.

'I can't believe what you did. So simple, yet effective. You've managed to shift the fear I've created here onto yourself. It's not like you won't see the other participants in the later parts of this exams. By staring me down and challenging my authority, you've shown that you have the guts to take on stronger, older opponents. I bet you even backed up that Genin's protest in order to get one of the Chunins to attack you.'

Checking the clock, Ibiki realized that it was forty-five minutes into the test.

"Alright it's time to answer the last question. But before that we need to determine whether or not you'll take it."

Temari stood up and asked the question everyone was wondering.

"What happens if we don't take it?"

"Then your points will be reduced to zero and you will be removed from the exams."

"Then of course we'll take it!"

An evil grin appeared on Ibiki's face hearing this. "But if you take the test and get it wrong, then you will never be allowed to take the Chunin exams again and will forever be a Genin."

There were several protests from random Genin.

"You lot got unlucky to have me as an examiner!"

Accepting their fates, some Genin began leaving. Naruto simply let out a laugh.

Ibiki turned his attention from the Genin still in their seat to Naruto, who was still on his desk.

"What's so funny?"

"We'll wait for a few more to leave before telling you."

More teams began to leave and Ibiki kept glancing at Naruto waiting for him to spill it. It was only after twenty-six teams remained Naruto decided to talk.

"I highly doubt any Kage throughout the lands would follow your rule Ibiki."

Several Genin's eyes widened in realization. A quick scan through the room showed Ibiki that no one was leaving. He smirked before shocking many by congratulating them. Naruto ignored Ibiki's explanation of the exam and the meaning behind it. Being told what he already knew was boring and pointless.

A sudden whizzing sound caught his ears and Naruto leapt up and stuck himself to the ceiling in time to dodge a large black projectile that shot through the window. The projectile unrolled into a large banner and kunai's flew out to stab the corners in place.

Naruto didn't pay attention to what was written on the banner and instead focused on the women standing before it. The back of her medium purple hair was tied in a wild high pony tail and her eyes were light brown. The tan trench coat failed at hiding her slender curves and her modest bust, especially when the only thing hiding them from view was a short sleeved body mesh similar to Temari's and a short rust orange min-skirt.

The feral grin and seductive look in her eyes told Naruto she knew full well what her outfit did to the male population. A few other accessories was present on her body such as grey shin guards on her legs, a blue belt wrapped around her skirt, and a peculiar necklace hung from her neck. It looked like a fang of some sort was the necklaces weight yet Naruto couldn't tell what kind.

The fanged necklace brought Naruto's focus back to her bust and he couldn't help but openly comment.

"Damn, what a view." he whispered.

Despite his whisper, the woman known as Anko heard him and looked up to see Naruto with his back towards the ceiling, using his hands and feet to stick to the surface.

"Like what you see?" she asked in a slightly seductive tone.

Naruto only nodded before an alarm went off in his head and he proceeded to disappear from his spot as a few kunai took his place. Anko looked over to a corner of the room and gave Naruto a grin that promised pain.

"Here's a warning to any teenage boy's with raging hormones. I. Hate. Perverts."

Ibiki watched with much amusement as Anko led the group of Genins away. Walking around the room, he began gathering the tests. Picking up one of the tests he saw Naruto's name on it. A blank look formed on his face.

"That little bastard didn't even answer a single damn question!"

* * *

><p>After Anko had given her warning and led the group out to a fenced area, she began to explain the objectives and rules of her exam much like Ibiki did. Turned out that it was a survival exercise along with another main objective that included the gathering of two different scrolls.<p>

Before the exams began Anko began handing out forms that alleviated Konoha of being responsible for the deaths that could occur inside exam or to be more specific the training area forty-four, AKA The Forest of Death.

Naruto looked at the forest and gave a chuckle as he was more than pleased with the newest exam. Mistaking Naruto's chuckle as a mockery of the forest, Anko threw yet another kunai at him. Naruto for his part didn't bother dodging and instead allowed the kunai to graze his cheek. A small sliver of blood spilled from his slashed mask but was soon removed by Anko.

"It's care free guys like you that end up spilling that delicious blood all over my forest." Anko stated.

Naruto felt a shiver crawl down his spine. The shiver wasn't from fear, rather it was from excitement. While he predicted that Anko would appear behind him, he never sensed her nor did he expect her to clean the blood off his cheek using her tongue.

'Wow that was rather hot.' he thought as he began to notice other things, such as the closeness of her body and her breathe tickling his ear.

Anko suddenly shifted her body so that she brandished a kunai towards a grass nin behind her. The grass nin was an odd one, odd because her tongue had stretched to unbelievable lengths, which held Anko's thrown kunai in it.

"You shouldn't sneak up behind me." stated Anko in an overly friendly voice.

The grass nin chuckled. "Sorry but I just wanted to give your kunai back, it cut my hair. And I love the sight of blood."

Anko forced a friendly smile. "Thank you, quiet a blood thirsty bunch we have this year."

Afterwards Anko left and Sakura walked over to Naruto. "Geez she's such a weirdo. You alright Naruto?"

Naruto was still watching Anko walk away. "We like her!"

Sakura shook her head and only sighed. It would only be natural for Naruto to like someone as odd as their present examiner. Once everyone had turned in their forms, each team was guided behind a curtain before being given their scroll and guided to a gate.

While they waited, Sasuke decided to try and gain authority.

"Alright I'll hold onto the scroll. We should focus on at least reaching the halfway point first and then set up an ambush."

"We have no problem with your plan, but we'll hold onto the scroll." said Naruto.

Sasuke held onto the scroll of heaven tightly, obviously not prepared to give it up.

"I'm the strongest all around in this group Naruto. You might have me beat at taijutsu, but you have no genjutsu, and your ninjutsu is academy basic. If the enemy were to discover that I had the scroll I'd be able to defend it better."

Naruto was about to argue, but Sakura chose to step in. "We have to be able to trust each other. How else are we going to get through this?"

"We trust Sasuke to save his own ass when the going gets tough and you to help him in his time of need." said Naruto.

Sakura flinched at the way Naruto saw her. When Naruto saw that Sasuke didn't have any plans of giving up the scroll, he dropped the subject.

The signal went off for them to begin and team seven began their mad dash for the halfway point. The forest was like many that surrounded Konoha. Large trees, plenty of shadows, only difference Naruto could find was the sound of abnormal animals and insects. A few screams echoed through the area and Naruto snickered.

'Guess there have been a few unlucky encounters.'

A bit later team seven had their first encounter with a foreign team. After Naruto went to relieve himself of his bodily fluids, a fake came by and tried to attack the team. Naruto returned in time to see Sasuke chase away the imposter.

After this little event Sasuke had decided to come up with a password that Naruto called asinine. Shortly after the creation of the password a torrent of wind blew across the area threatening to send all in its path flying.

With interest Naruto noticed that the wind was solely focused on him. So when the piece of ground he glued himself to was beginning to give, Naruto decided to humor who ever was so determined to split him from the group and see what was planned for him.

The powerful wind sent him soaring several miles away. Deciding he had enjoyed the free ride enough, Naruto grabbed a passing branch and allowed his momentum to send him somersaulting to the ground. Once standing , he allowed his awareness to spread through the forest. The sound of kunai's whistling through the air was the greeting he got. As soon as he leapt back to dodge the simple weapons, an image of another person with his palms pointed forward entered his peripheral vision.

"Decapitating –"

The teenage boy was cut off as Naruto dashed from his current spot to in between his arms. Suddenly Naruto wrapped his arms around his fellow teenagers, preventing him from moving away. Naruto recognized the sound nin in front of him and quickly proceeded to lift his legs off the ground and plant them on the nins chest. Allowing gravity to take effect, Naruto fell on his back only to roll back and used his legs to send the nin flying towards the female of the group, who was trying to sneak up behind him.

Predicting the third members attack approaching, Naruto wasted no time in flipping back on his feet. Sure enough a third member was dashing towards him. Naruto back flipped just in time to kick the mummified nin in the jaw. Unfortunately the kick wasn't enough to stop the contraption on his opponents arm from ringing and Naruto landed on his knees with his symbiote shaking.

The pain he felt this time was far worse and he had to shakily get up. The three sound nins stood a few feet away from him and Naruto instincts forced him to take in more details of them.

The sound ninja seemed to have a dress code of sorts as all three wore urban camo scarves around their necks with matching baggy pants. Instead of just regular blue shinobi sandals the group wore black ones that seemed to have shin guards attached to them and their sound head bands tied across their foreheads.

Naruto listened carefully as they conversed and picked up on their names.

The one who stood in the middle was Dosu, the apparent leader. His head was all wrapped in bandages except for the spot around his left eye. A lavender shirt with overly long sleeves was his choice of upper wardrobe and for some unforeseen reason he wore a shaggy fur on his back.

The second male of the team was Zaku, the one Naruto had tossed. His black hair resembled Kakashi and two metal plates bordered his jaw line. A beige short sleeve shirt with the kanji for death on it adorned his upper body while two black pieces of cloth covered his forearm tightly. A closer look at his hands revealed two pipes sticking out of the middle of his palms.

The last member of the team was Kin, The female of the team. Her forehead protector kept her long black hair out of her face while it ran down her back. Unlike her male teammates she wore some armor in the form of a pale green flak jacket. Just as Zaku did, she wore a similar pair of black cloths around her forearm.

Finally the sound nin had decided to strike and Naruto had been given enough time to recover. Kin started off by acting as support and began throwing senbon. She formed the perfect distraction, especially with the bells tied to some of the senbon to make Naruto focus on them.

Though these projectiles distracted him it didn't prevent Naruto from dodging Zaku's Decapitating Airwaves. These two were not the ones Naruto was concerned with as he was waiting on Dosu to strike the entire time.

Finally Dosu decided to make his move and appeared in Naruto's blind spot. Sensing a presence behind him Naruto spun around and aimed to back hand Dosu. A mistake that Naruto regretted making as Dosu simply blocked with his sound device, the melody arm as Naruto learned it was called.

The instant his hand hit the melody arm, a loud reverberating ringing was let loose. The portion of his symbiote covering his arm was blasted away and Naruto entire suit shook violently as Naruto covered his ears and screamed.

He took a few steps back as he tried to gain control over his symbiote. While this happened the sound nins watched Naruto with confused faces. Dosu gave his melody arm a quick glance before a smile could be seen through his wrappings.

"Zaku blast him." Dosu ordered.

Said sound nin didn't hesitate as a vicious grin appeared on his face. "Decapitating Airwaves!"

A large blast of air was shot from Zaku's hands and headed towards Naruto. Despite Naruto's pain, he leapt back in time to only be nicked. The nick sent him hurtling and Kin decided to follow up with a few senbons. Naruto shrugged off the thrown projectiles as he decided to focus on his real threat, Dosu.

Unfortunately the sound nin predicted this and used his other two teammates as a means to keep his distance. Seeing that Naruto wasn't slowed down enough, Dosu slammed his melody arm against a nearby tree and used his chakra to magnetize the sound created.

Once more Naruto's symbiote shook violently and Naruto himself began screaming in pain. Small pieces of his symbiote fell off as dead cells, leaving Naruto's clothes looking torn. The pattern repeated once more before one of Zaku's air blasts hit home and sent Naruto flying away through several branches.

The sound nin quickly followed after, only to find nothing.

"Where'd he go?" asked Zaku.

Dosu looked around, studying the surrounding forest with sharp eyes while Kin was busy listening for the tiniest sound. Having experiences with different sound based jutsu she could hear the breathing of a living person and even their heart beat if she was close enough.

Unknown to them, Naruto was only a few feet away. He stuck to one of the trees using his back and limbs. One his hands were held forward and the majority of his symbiote extended from it leaving him nearly nude except for a few small bits of black ooze. His symbiote had formed a small dome over him and was camouflaging them as merely a part of the tree. Luckily the dome also served as to prevent any noise from escaping though Naruto could hear the sound nin perfectly through his symbiote.

"Come out here you freak!" yelled Zaku as his bloodlust was getting the better of him.

Dosu seemed to give up. "Let's go. Orochimaru told us to only stall him."

Warning bells went off in Naruto's head. 'Orochimaru! Why would he try to have us ambushed, better yet, what does he want with our team? Gotta get back and help.'

The female shook her head. "You sure about that Dosu? This could easily come back to bite us in the ass."

"Don't worry Kin. If he decides to face us again we'll kill him easily." Dosu brandished his melody arm. "We know his weakness."

Kin didn't feel any better about the situation but didn't argue.

"Damn! Just when I was enjoying myself!" stated Zaku before following his team.

Once Naruto was sure they were gone he allowed himself to slide down the tree he was on. The symbiote slowly began returning to him and formed his clothes again. Due to the damage done to him and his symbiote, several holes and tears littered his clothes.

'Have to rest first, we can't help anyone in this condition.'

Naruto leaned against a tree as he waited for his strength to return.

* * *

><p>The second he could begin jumping from tree to tree, Naruto took off. Unfortunately this had only given him around five minutes of rest. He was still slightly shaking but he wasn't letting that stop him from being cautious and stealthy. A piercing scream filled the forest and Naruto decided to trade in a little stealth for more speed.<p>

He arrived in time to see Sakura crouching protectively next to a kneeling Sasuke, a figure standing on a branch parallel from them. Sasuke was screaming in pain while one of his hands was grasping the side of his shoulder.

A better look at the other figure revealed him to be none other than Orochimaru. Naruto merely thought the title snake charmer referred to his snake like abilities, but a first hand look at him revealed that the man resembled a snake in many ways. The best way to describe his skin was to compare it to the pale under belly of many snakes and his eyes were yellow and slit. Orochimaru's body was thin and his face narrow with a barely visible nose. So far his only human looking quality was the long black hair that covered his scalp.

"What did you do to Sasuke?" Sakura yelled.

"Kekeke, I've merely given him a gift. Soon he will seek me and then I will teach him how to use it." said Orochimaru before sinking into the limb of the tree and disappearing.

Naruto thought on the choices present before him. He could either tail Orochimaru or look after his team. Looking down at Sakura he couldn't help but feel for her. She looked helpless and the realization that dawned on her face only increased her grieve. Despite this he felt that tailing Orochimaru was more important. He hated leaving her like that, but he trusted her enough to protect Sasuke.

With that thought in mind Naruto left.

* * *

><p>Despite having disappeared, Orochimaru wasn't untraceable. Naruto jumped from tree to tree soundlessly as he followed the sound of the snake charmer slithering from tree to tree. By now he and his symbiote had recovered from the sound attacks and Naruto could move once more without worry.<p>

Naruto made sure to keep a distance from Orochimaru without losing him. Some would wonder how an S rank missing nin could not detect a Genin such as Naruto. The secret behind this mystery was once again because of the symbiote.

It couldn't just make Naruto soundless, but it did give him a sensitivity that allowed him to feel the different tempature degrees that flowed from spot to spot. Much like a bird used pockets of hot air to fly, Naruto would use these same pockets to move through more quiet as the warmer air molecules passed around him with more ease than cooler ones.

This alone didn't allow Naruto to travel silently but it did help give him an advantage over others.

Naruto suddenly stopped when a new figure entered his vision.

'Anko?'

Sure enough the purple haired proctor stood on one of the thick tree limbs. Naruto was confused at the sight and merely considered her appearance as a coincidence until Anko began talking to Orochimaru and soon began fighting him.

At first Anko seemed to have a chance of fighting on equal ground, but soon the fight turned sour when she was assaulted by some unknown pain, kneeling on the tree limb. The similarity between how Anko was in pain in front of him and how Sasuke was moments ago wasn't missed by Naruto.

He cursed as he moved closer to the two and prepared to strike. When he tailed Orochimaru he hadn't planned on fighting the missing nin. Naruto was confident in his skills, but he wasn't stupid enough to think he could actually take on a ninja of Kakashi's caliber or above. He had merely wanted to tail him and report his findings to the Hokage.

A tree limb above Orochimaru's and Anko's was Naruto's current position. As if preparing to jump to another tree limb, Naruto ran towards the edge of the limb before jumping. While still mid-air he shot a line of symbiote onto the tree branch he had just jumped from. The line stuck and instantly stretched as Naruto hovered in the air for a few seconds before gravity took affect.

Orochimaru had heard the sound of air being displaced but hadn't reacted in time before Naruto thrust both of his feet forward and kicked him off the large branch. Anko eyes widened as she recognized Naruto.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Anko growled out between gritted teeth.

Naruto ignored her question as he was more focused Orochimaru was. He couldn't see him, but he knew better than to assume that Orochimaru would leave after only one kick.

Several snakes extended from a bush of leaves and wrapped around Naruto's torso. Orochimaru had tried to pull Naruto off the tree limb, but the chakra on his feet kept him glued to it.

A quick spin of one of Naruto's hand had gathered all the snakes in his grip. He thought about using his superior strength to yank Orochimaru, but threw the idea away in favor of ripping the snakes apart. Naruto wanted to stall Orochimaru and trying to fight the man in an obviously lost battle wouldn't help.

A piece of bark a few steps away from Naruto began morphing and Orochimaru rose from the limb.

"So tell me Naruto. Did you enjoy the welcoming party I sent you?" said Orochimaru, a smug sense of amusement filling his voice.

"Your guests were most unwelcomed. And we plan to make you pay!" Naruto replied with partial anger.

He could only blame Orochimaru for setting up the hornet's nest, it was himself who knew of it and decided to kick it regardless. His main concern at the moment was to make Orochimaru believe he was just an angry Genin. Hopefully the image would make Orochimaru not take him seriously.

The snake Sanin turned into a blur and Naruto tilted his body just in time to dodge a two finger strike to his shoulder. Orochimaru's assault didn't end there as he followed up with several more kicks and strikes. Naruto stayed on the defense, hoping to be able to throw in a counter-strike, but with how odd and unpredictable the strikes were he was finding himself unable.

An over powered sweep kick left Orochimaru open and Naruto flipped forward, slamming his heel on top of Orochimaru's skull. Naruto wasn't surprised when a long tongue suddenly wrapped around him, especially with how Orochimaru's body in front of him turned to mud.

Lifted off the ground, Naruto was brought to a branch higher up and met face to face with the real Orochimaru.

"You did better than I thought you would." Orochimaru admitted as he began performing hand seals.

Not wanting to find out what the hand seals were intended for Naruto began trying to rip the tongue off of him. Unfortunately the tongue was too slippery for him to grab. Feeling himself brought closer to Orochimaru, he looked at the man and watched as he the Sanin's digits were covered purple flames.

The hand was thrust forward and connected with Naruto's stomach. A blinding pain was expected by both parties and Naruto was surprised that the worst that happened was having the wind knocked out of him. He looked down at the hand that was still connected with his stomach and waited for something else.

"That should take care of the nine-tails." Orochimaru stated with a chuckle.

With Naruto staring at his hand, Orochimaru was unaware of Naruto's consciousness and was unprepared when Naruto acted. Two hands clamped down on his shoulders and a knee slammed his mouth close, causing his teeth to sever his elongated tongue.

With the tongue severed, Naruto began falling towards the forest floor. He used his freedom to remove the no longer living bindings and shot out a tendril of symbiote. His thread carried him to a nearby tree where he immediately hid himself.

Orochimaru's curses could easily be heard, how he wasn't dying from blood lose was beyond Naruto.

"I will get you for this you damn brat! Fortunately for you I don't have anymore time to play, but know this,we will meet again and I will make you suffer!"

Silence filled the air and a few minutes passed before Naruto began making his way back to Anko. He did not find her on the branch he originally saw her on and instead found her on the forest ground.

He dropped down and landed in front of her, causing her to jump into a sluggish fighting style before she recognized him.

"Geez, don't just surprise me like that." she said as she dropped her stance.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. "We apologize for scaring you."

Anko scoffed. "Don't kid yourself, you didn't scare me. So what happened with Orochimaru?"

"He retreated. We assume you've warned Anbu considering you decided to take him on." Naruto stated.

Anko nodded in response and was going to explain the situation when a thought occurred to her.

"Hey! Where's your team?"

"I left them back a mile or so. Decided that tailing Orochimaru was more important than this exam." Naruto replied.

"Look you should get back to your team. Orochimaru mentioned….. doing something to Sasuke. Chances are he's in no condition to fight and with you here that only leaves bubblegum to protect him. Anko stated.

Naruto laughed at Anko's nickname for Sakura. "Sure you'll be ok on your own?"

Anko raised an eyebrow. "What, you concerned about me?"

"We don't know how bad the pain that mark on your shoulder causes, but from our point of view it isn't the most pleasant." Naruto pointed out.

She unconsciously raised her hand over her curse mark. "I'm ok, you should worry about yourself. You're hiding it well but I can see that you're favoring your right side."

"We'll be fine in a few minutes, wasn't able to dodge all of his attacks. You sure you'll be ok?"

Anko gave a short laugh but haughty laugh. "I'll be fine. I'm a Tokubetsu Jonin, a little pain in my neck isn't going to leave me defenseless."

"In that case we guess we'll see you at the tower." Said Naruto before leaping away, leaving no sound to indicate he was even there.

* * *

><p>Author's note: I had trouble with this chapter. I wanted Naruto to be strong, but at the same time I didn't want to over power him. I never really like it where Naruto can take on ninja like Orochimaru this early.<p>

On another note, I've been considering having Naruto take on the name of Venom as a nickname of sorts and I would like it if people would let me know if they think it's a good idea. I already know how I would set it up for him to gain it, but I want to know if the readers would like Naruto to refer to himself as Venom.


	5. Chapter 5:End of the Second Test

Along Came a Symbiote

Author's Note: Chapter four got forty reviews in a mere three days! That's not including the reviews for the other chapters included. Now I don't know if that should be common but I'm only used to getting between 15-20 reviews a week. So I can't help but feel great about it.

**Important Info**: After taking a look at the reviews I have decided to give Naruto the Venom name as a code name later down the road. This wouldn't happen till after Shipudden. Anyway read and enjoy. Also remember to review.

Chapter 5: End of the Second Test

* * *

><p>Hiding under the roots of an enormous oak tree was one of the few places Sakura ever expected to find herself. Doubt swept over her as she watched over Sasuke's unconscious body and she couldn't help but remember what Naruto had told them before his disappearance.<p>

'_We trust Sasuke to save his own ass when the going gets tough and you to help him in his time of need.'_

'How true those words were.' Sakura thought.

After Naruto had been literally blown away, Orochimaru appeared and proceeded to attack them. Once Sasuke discovered that they stood no chance of winning, he tried to offer the scroll of Heaven as a trade for their lives.

Sakura would never forget the mixture of fear and anger etched on Sasuke's face as he pulled out an obvious fake scroll with Naruto's signature on it. Not that it mattered as Orochimaru made it clear that he had no interest in the scrolls. Once the snake Sannin finally did leave Sakura found herself carrying Sasuke to their current hiding spot.

After she had laid Sasuke on the earthen ground in a comfortable position and placed a wet rag over his forehead she proceeded in setting up traps around the perimeter. It was only after she had finished insuring that she and Sasuke would be fine that Naruto entered her mind.

'Naruto was right. I took care of Sasuke without even thinking if he was ok or even alive. Is he ok? And if he is, where is he?'

Sasuke groaned and gritted his teeth. Sweat trickled down his face and Sakura used the rag to wipe away his perspiration. She squeezed the mixture of warm water and sweat from it before damping it with some of the cool water from her canteen. With her rag in a more suitable condition, Sakura placed it once more onto Sasuke's forehead.

Before putting her canteen away, she took a much needed sip of her water.

"Please be ok... Naruto."

* * *

><p>The forest of death was indeed a vast training field, something Naruto was growing to dislike as he leapt and swung from tree to tree. He had hoped that finding Sakura and Sasuke would be a simple task of retracing his steps, but the thousands of similar trees and vegetation left little indication of where he was or where he was going.<p>

The only real key marker was the large tower located in the forest and that was only because of the fact that it was located in the middle of it. Another thing that impeded his search was the several other Genin teams and over grown wild life. He had already chanced upon a few foreign teams and didn't want to start an unnecessary fight. Especially with how the gathered fatigue from his previous two fights was beginning to set in. If Naruto had to judge, he'd say he had one good fight left in him before he would need to rest.

His vision suddenly became unfocused and he felt dizzy. Stopping on one of the many tree branches near him, Naruto waited until his vision returned to normal.

'Damn sound nins. Even now we're suffering from their attack.'

His head cleared as did his vision and once more he continued his search. Ten minutes passed and the only difference in the forest Naruto could find was the scars left from battles and a few dead bodies in the case that one team wasn't so merciful.

Ten minutes turned to fifteen and fifteen turned to twenty. His frustration had begun to get the better of him along with his fatigue when an all too familiar shout rung a few yards from Naruto's left.

"Decapitating Airwaves!"

Naruto stared at the direction and couldn't help but feel anger. He began turning away as he hoped to think logically instead of letting his anger dictate his actions, but stopped when he recalled that the sound team was Orochimaru's minions. It wouldn't be too far of a stretch to say that the sound nins would be ordered to attack his team, especially with how Orochimaru's anger was now directed upon him and his previous interest with Sasuke.

"We best at least check." Naruto whispered to himself.

* * *

><p>Landing on a nearby branch, Naruto studied the scene before him. Naruto's only guess was that God decided to smile upon him as he found Team Ten defending Sakura from Dosu and his teammates. A closer look revealed Rock Lee laying unconscious a few feet from Sakura. The fact that his back was facing her was a nice hint that he was protecting her as well.<p>

Team ten had the sound nins distracted, something that Naruto would take full advantage of. He made his way closer to Dosu and prepared his sneak attack. While he stalked across the branches, Naruto couldn't help but notice how still the sound nin was or the fact that he was mimicking Shikamaru. A better look at the ground cleared that question.

'Oh, it seems Shikamaru has him ensnared. Well that just makes things all the easier for us.' Naruto thought with a laugh echoing in his mind.

Ino had succeeded in using her family's jutsu, invading Kin's mind and took control. Reaching into Kin's pouch, she retrieved a kunai and placed it at the girl's neck.

"Alright if you don't want your teammate killed you'll give up!" Ino threatened.

Dosu who was still trapped in Shikamaru's shadow merely glanced over at the now possessed Kin and Zaku looked over confused once he had successfully defended himself from Choji. Neither seemed to care that their teammate was seconds from slicing open her own neck, a fact that made Ino nervous.

"Hey you guys listening! Give up now or else!" Ino said as she brought the kunai even closer to Kin's neck.

Dosu moved his gaze away from Kin and towards Shikamaru only to move it once again towards Zaku after a few seconds.

"Do it."

Dosu's words caused Zaku to grin and unnerve Shikamaru. Seeing Zaku raise one of his hands and point it towards Kin caused the lazy Genin to shout out a futile warning.

"Ino watch out!"

He cursed as he not only watched Kin's body be sent hurtling into a tree, but for his Shadow Possession to release Dosu as well. The now free sound nin immediately went to charge Shikamaru, but a strong grip on his forearm prevent him from moving.

Dosu turned his head to see a grinning Naruto. "You again!"

The shock of seeing Naruto wasn't enough to prevent Dosu from trying to retaliate. He instantly went to strike his melody arm only to have Naruto grab that arm as well, mimicking the grip of his other arm.

"Sorry, but we don't intend to let you hurt us again!" Naruto said, increasing the strength of his grip to ensure Dosu couldn't escape.

Sakura saw Naruto and couldn't help but smile. "Thank God."

Shikamaru smiled at seeing Naruto as well, but frowned when he saw Zaku point one of his hands toward Naruto.

"Oh no you don't!" said Shikamaru was he performed his Shadow Possession jutsu.

Zaku's hands suddenly shot up and released two loud blasts of pressure.

"What the hell?" Zaku yelled.

Naruto nodded towards Shikamaru. "Thanks Shikamaru, we'll quickly take care of this."

Shikamaru nodded and replied through grit teeth. "No problem, just hurry up. It's too troublesome to keep him still."

Dosu struggled to break free from Naruto's grip, but found himself lacking the strength to do so. The wicked grin Naruto's mask seemed to make only fueled his attempts to break free.

Naruto slammed his head against Dosu's, momentarily stunning him.

"Have you ever heard the saying 'Never hurt what you can't kill'? We don't plan on making the same mistake." Naruto stated before placing one of his feet against Dosu's chest.

"And we don't plan on letting you keep these devices." he added.

Dosu quickly caught onto Naruto's plan as did Shikamaru and the others, much to their collective horror.

"NO DOOONN'T!"

Naruto didn't know whether it was Dosu who yelled the protest or one of the others, but that didn't matter as the words were quickly replaced by Dosu's agony filled scream. Two useless, bloody appendages were dropped from Naruto's hands and he made his way to Dosu's armless form as he flailed around helpless with blood quickly spraying from the nubs that remained of his arms.

Sakura's complexion nearly turned as bone white as the two splinters that jutted from Dosu's nubs. The image before her seemed to burn its way into her mind and she couldn't bring herself to look away. Blood covered much of the ground and was clearly visible on Naruto's hands as small droplets fell from them.

Despite the nightmarish picture before her, Sakura wished she could mute out the scream she continued to hear to hear even more.

'Please! Please just put him out of his misery!'

Team ten wasn't fairing any better than Sakura. Shikamaru was lucky enough to be too busy holding Zaku in his shadow to focus on Dosu, but his pain filled screams got to him. Ino had let go of her hold on Kin and returned to her body, hoping that she wouldn't wake up while the sound nin still suffered. Naruto's action seemed to affect Choji most as his kind heart couldn't handle what he witnessed. Bending over, the Akimichi released his stomachs contents.

Surprisingly the one who seemed least affected by this was Dosu's own teammate, Zaku. The look on his face wasn't of horror or disgust, but surprise.

'Didn't think any of these tree huggers had it in them.' he thought morbidly.

Naruto had finally reached Dosu. He simply placed one of his boots on Dosu's throat, slowly adding pressure and choking him. A quick jerk of his foot was all Naruto needed to end the sound nins life and silence him forever.

Zaku didn't have much time to think afterwards before Naruto appeared behind him and knocked him out. Luckily for Shikamaru, he had let go of Zaku's shadow just in time for Naurto's balled fist to slam over the pressure point at the back of the sound nins neck.

Naruto wasn't allowed to relax despite both Zaku and Kin being unconscious. It wasn't the morbid stares his fellow Leaf Genin were giving nor was it Lee's teammates watching over them. No it was the dark chakra that was now floating around the now conscious Sasuke.

Following Naruto's gaze she soon found Sasuke standing a foot or so behind her. She was glad to see that he was awake, but the weird flame like markings that covered over half of his body and the visible purple chakra unsettled her.

"Who did this to you?"

Despite the concerned question Sasuke asked, Sakura couldn't help but feel the malice behind it.

"The sound nin attacked us while you were unconscious. B-But it is ok, Naruto and the others protected us."

At the mention of Naruto's name, Sasuke's anger grew and his focus shifted from Sakura to Naruto. Reaching into one of his pouches, he produced the fake scroll of Heaven.

"This your idea of prank!" Sasuke growled out.

Naruto only returned Sasuke's glare. "What, you angry that your bargaining chip wasn't available?" He proceeded to pull out the real scroll of Heaven, an act meant to mock Sasuke.

Sasuke's anger rose and he threw the fake scroll at Naruto. The fake scroll was batted away and Naruto leapt to the side in time to dodge Sasuke's rushed kick.

'Never thought we'd use the last of our strength to defend ourselves from Sasuke.' thought Naruto as he fought back.

Sakura watched in confusion and fear as her two teammates fought. It just seemed like no matter what happened something horrible seemed to follow. Naruto showed up to protect her, only to traumatize her with one of the goriest kills she'd ever seen. And Sasuke woke up only to be surrounded by a chakra that disturbed her and had even begun fighting Naruto.

Team ten didn't try to intervene as they didn't know who to help and were unsure if they could stop either one.

Sasuke was sent flying thanks to a hook from Naruto. Instead of his back slamming into the tree, he flipped himself over and used it as a springboard. Kicking off the tree, Sasuke launched himself above Naruto and began a series of hand seals.

'He's stronger and faster than before.' Naruto thought to himself.

A large in take of air from Sasuke warned Naruto of the fire jutsu coming. Unfortunately he had been prepared for a large fireball, not the multiple fire blasts that exploded forth. Explosions littered the forest floor around Naruto and a pained cry filled the air.

Smoke slowly cleared, and Naruto stood amongst the burnt earth, half of the clothes on his upper body were burnt off. His mask gave way to reveal the right side of his face, showing his long forgotten whisker marks and the matching side of his jacket and shirt were now replaced by the burnt skin of his pectoral and arm.

The blinding pain Naruto felt was easily ignored in place of the anger that coursed through him.

Sasuke and Naruto stared each other down once more, waiting for any signal to let loose the pent up rage both had for the other. Finally the two dashed towards each other with the intent to end each other.

Mere inches away from each other, both seemed frozen and unsure. Their hands were pulled back and ready to strike, but the pink haired girl between them prevented either from finishing their attack. Sakura's soft hands pressed against both teens chest and they looked at her face to see the tears spill from her eyes.

"Please, just please stop fighting." she begged weakly.

Naruto hesitated for a few seconds before dropping his fist and walking over to Dosu's corpse. Sasuke simply stood stunned, unsure of what happened. Relieve filled Sakura when she saw that Naruto wasn't continuing the fight and that the dark chakra and odd marks began to fade from Sasuke.

Rummaging through Dosu's supplies, Naruto found the scroll of Earth. Pocketing the scroll, Naruto walked over to the hollow Sakura had used before to hide in and slowly let his body fall and relax on the cool earth.

"Sakura." Naruto yelled out.

Hearing her name called, she turned her attention over to Naruto and panicked when she saw his prone form. Rushing over, she kneeled next to him and rested a hand on his side, being care to not put too much pressure on his burnt skin.

"You ok Naruto?" she asked with genuine concern.

Naruto didn't look up but he did nod. "We need you to use any ninja wire we have and restrain the remaining sound nins. They work for Orochimaru, we need to take them to the Hokage."

The seriousness in Naruto's voice told her to do as he asked without question, but the exhaustion that echoed from him only fueled her concern.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes Sakura, We just need to rest. Please tell Shikamaru we said thanks." Naruto replied.

* * *

><p><strong>Two Days Later<strong>

It had taken two days of rest for both Naruto and Sasuke to be able enough to fight. In truth Naruto could have been ready the next day, but with his symbiote it was expected for him to recover faster. Sasuke's curse mark was another factor in his slower recovery. Ever since the seal had been put in place he hadn't been able to mold chakra as easily and he would go through fits of pain at random moments. Once Sasuke was able to confidently fight, they decided to complete the second portion of the exams.

Team seven made their way towards the tower with Naruto carrying both Zaku and Kin. Just as he did with Haku, he used parts of his symbiote to bind them. Speaking of his symbiote, it had regenerated enough as recreate his clothes. This didn't go unnoticed by his teammates and when they asked how his clothes had returned to normal Naruto lied, using the excuse that he had storage seals with spare clothing.

It would be another day of travel before they reached the center of the forest and both Kin and Zaku presented much protest and struggle as they moved on. Naruto had wanted to arrive at the tower sooner but Sakura argued that with both scrolls in their possession, they shouldn't rush to the tower and make themselves an easy target.

Once they finally did arrive at their destination, they were greeted by a riddle written on one of the walls of the room they entered.

In the end team seven had to risk disqualification by opening both Heaven and Earth scrolls which resulted in summoning someone Naruto hadn't expected to see.

"Iruka?"

The Chunin teacher smiled as he looked at Team seven, but it lessened as he looked at Naruto and noticed the two tied up sound nin.

"I don't think you're allowed to take prisoners Naruto." Iruka stated with a jesting voice.

Naruto shook his head. "They work for Orochimaru."

The mere name made Iruka's face grow stern and he moved closer to Naruto.

"I heard that he's been seen here in Konoha, but I didn't know that the sound was his ninja…. I take it you will want to see the Hokage."

Naruto nodded as he adjusted Kin over his shoulder.

* * *

><p>Hiruzen Sarutobi could feel his age really affect him at the moment. An S Ranking nin was currently using Konoha as his personal play ground and to make matters worse it was his old student. At the moment the Hokage could only be happy that both Naruto and Anko had managed to escape with their lives and that nothing further had occured.<p>

He took a long drag of his pipe and letting the smoke float form his mouth before turning to team seven and the other occupants of the spare office room. Kakashi stood behind his students while Iruka and Anko stood at the side.

"Everyone I want to thank you for the information you have provided. Kakashi I need you to place a counter seal over the curse mark. I would have Jaraiya handle it, but he isn't here at the moment."

Kakashi nodded before placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

The Hokage then turned to Iruka. "I would like you and Ms. Haruno to wait outside, there's something I want to discuss with Anko and Naruto in private."

Iruka did as he was told and exited the room with Sakura. Closing the door behind him, he could faintly sensed seals going off. Most likely to prevent any sound from escaping the room. A few minutes passed as the two simply stood in silence while they waited for Naruto to exit the room.

"Iruka sensei…." Sakura whispered.

"Yes Sakura?" Iruka asked with a curious look.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She closed her mouth and bit her lip before opening it again.

"Wha-What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"Don't think too hard about Orochimaru. You and the others did nothing to drag yourself int-"

"That's not what I'm talking about."

Iruka looked at Sakura questionably before understanding came across his face. He placed a gentle hand onto her shoulder, feeling the shudders that racked her body.

"I had hoped my students wouldn't have to face this side of a ninja's life for a bit longer." Iruka stated.

Sakura shook her head. "Naruto… He ripped that sound nin apart… before our very eyes. I didn't even kill him….. and yet I'm still haunted by his screams! How could Naruto do that, and appear completely unfazed?"

"I don't know." Iruka whispered. "Naruto has been an enigma to me ever since I've known him. I know that Naruto has had a hard life, even more than most orphans have. Maybe Naruto has had to kill before in order to save his own life, or maybe he's just holding it in where no one can see, I mean he is wearing a mask."

Iruka allowed Sakura a minute to soak in everything she had been told before continuing.

"That being said. I understand what you are feeling right now. It's not easy to witness such horrid deaths. Whether it be an enemy or an ally. Unfortunately this is a part of life for ninja. I have seen my enemy hit with a fire jutsu and survive, only to scream for the remainder of their life as the burns send them into shock. I had a close encounter with a wind jutsu once. I never even saw it coming until someone pushed me out of the way. Watching my comrade's body fall to pieces due to hair line slashes is one of the few things I never want to see again."

Sakura shook her head in the hopes of ridding herself of the mental images that formed.

"What am I suppose to do about Naruto? I haven't been able to speak two words to him without talking to the team as a whole and every time I look at him…. I see blood covering his hands."

Iruka let out a sigh. "I don't know what to tell you. But I should inform you that Naruto will most likely see the blood on his hands far more than you do. Whatever reason Naruto had for killing in such a way, it doesn't change the fact that he killed that ninja. He will have to live with it, and the sad fact is that there will be many more. For Naruto… and you as well."

Sakura's eyes widened upon hearing this. Instead of trying to deny or lie to herself, she just went silent.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside the office<strong>

"There is a lot going on and Orochimaru seems to be at the center of everything." Naruto stated.

Hiruzen nodded before taking a puff of his pipe. "With the sound nins taking orders from Orochimaru, it's safe to say that he is Oto's leader and has its entire army at his disposal, which still doesn't explain why he has marked Sasuke with the curse mark. Orochimaru wouldn't return just for Sasuke, not during a time when our security is at its highest. Not much is known about Oto, but it isn't large enough to successfully attack Konoha."

"Maybe he has more than just an army." Naruto stated as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a slightly burnt card.

'Luckily Sasuke's fire jutsu didn't hit the majority of it.' Thought Naruto as he handed the card to the Hokage.

"A participant by the name of Kabuto Yakushi had a deck of cards. Each card holds information on different ninja and this card was among them."

The Hokage studied the card for several seconds before he understood what was wrong with the situation.

"There's no way he should know all of this." Hiruzen spoke out loud.

"We thought the same thing. Ever since we've met Kabuto we haven't been able to trust him. His demeanor and the things he says, tells us that he's far more than he pretends to be." said Naruto.

Anko opened her mouth to speak. "Kabuto Yakushi, I remember his name. He's the one that Jonin medic brought to our village from a battle several years ago. His record is rather ordinary, nothing really impressive, but if he's a spy, then this would explain a lot."

Hiruzen shook his head in disbelief. "A spy amongst us. This would explain how Orochimaru managed to slip by the patrols."

"Hopefully the two sound nins we brought in will give us some information. We would advise extra guards for their cells, don't need them killed off under our nose" said Naruto

"Brats' got a point. I doubt Orochimaru will simply let them live." Anko added.

The Hokage nodded in agreement. "True, I'll assign more Anbu to watch over them."

"What about Kabuto? It wouldn't be smart to allow a spy to roam around as he pleases."

The Hokage nodded in agreement with Naruto's statement. "We'll wait until after the second portion of the exams before we apprehend him, same goes for the sound Jonin. This way Orochimaru will believe that we haven't caught onto Kabuto or Oto."

A grunt escaped Anko's clenched teeth. The hand she had pressed against her shoulder told the Hokage exactly what the cause was for her pain.

"The curse mark still acting up." he stated.

One of Naruto's eye brows rose as he took interest in the subject. "What exactly is the curse mark?" he asked.

The Hokage didn't answer immediately, as he took time to think. "I'll admit that I don't know much about the curse mark. It's a seal that Orochimaru created in order to enhance the abilities of the bearer. Unfortunately there are severe and even fatale side effects. The chance that the curse seal won't kill the person it's placed upon is slim."

Anko decided to continue the explanation. "Even if you do survive, resisting the seal can cause bouts of pain. Giving into the seal is even worse as you're taken over by anger, hate, and even greed. It can take the worst of you and bring it out to the surface."

"He plans to have Sasuke come to him." Naruto stated. "Sasuke wants power to avenge his clan. If he gives into his greed, he'll leave."

The Hokage blew out a cloud of smoke. "Hopefully the suppression seal Kakashi puts on him will prevent that."

Naruto gave an unconvinced look, though it was hard to see as his eyes were the only indication. "We wouldn't put too much trust into it."

Anko laughed at this. "What, you don't have confidence in your sensei's skills?"

"It's not that we don't have confidence in Kakashi, it's Sasuke that we lack confidence in."

The Hokage cleared his throat to regain both ninja's attention. "Is there anything else that either of you would like to inform me about."

Both nins thought for a second before shaking their heads.

"In that case you are both dismissed. I would recommend resting for the majority of your stay here Naruto."

Naruto nodded and didn't bother asking why. If the Hokage was going to tell him, he'd have done so. Following Anko out the door, he saw Sakura standing next to Iruka. The fact that Sakura looked away from him wasn't missed and he'd decided that he would figure out what it was about later. For now he just wanted a decent meal and a place to sleep.

"Hey Anko before you go any chance this place has a cafeteria? We haven't eaten anything but fish for the past couple of days."

Anko shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah yeah, there's one somewhere in this place. Just have Iruka there lead you to it." she said before disappearing into a hallway.

Naruto turned to Iruka afterwards. "Alright, lead the way."

* * *

><p><strong>Two days later<strong>

Naruto stood in a room with twenty other Genins around him. All attention was towards the Hokage and many others that stood around him. Behind the Hokage were two statues of mesh covered arms forming a hand sign.

The Hokage began explaining the true meaning of the Chunin exams and how they were meant to supposedly prevent wars. Naruto only gave partial attention to what was being said as he chose to study his surrounding instead.

The circular floor they stood on was littered with cracks and scuff marks. An upper level surrounded them and was fenced off by sets of rails. The Hokage's advise from the day before and his observations helped Naruto realize that the room they were in was an arena of some sort.

Naruto picked up on the bickering around him and heard the Hokage mention something about a preliminary round. A smile crossed Naruto's face at the thought of being able to actually fight one on one.

Suddenly an ill looking man decided to take over for the Hokage and explain the reason behind the preliminary round. Once the new examiner was done explaining he decided to inform them of their choices.

"If you don't believe you can continue the exams, let us know now before we start." before letting out several coughs.

The Hokage, Anko, and Naruto all watched as Kabuto raised his hand. "Sorry but I don't think I can continue."

The new examiner, Hayate, check him off a list. "Alright are there any more that would like to quit now."

The other Genin were talking amongst them while Naruto watched Kabuto leave. As this happened Sakura began trying to convince Sasuke to drop out due to the curse mark, something he had no intentions of doing.

"This is the one time where I can test myself and see where I stand in the world. I've told you before, I'm an avenger. If you take this away from me, I wouldn't forgive even you Sakura."

Sakura's eyes went wide as the tone of Sasuke's voice told her that he was serious. She relented afterwards and simply prayed that he'd be ok.

Seeing as no one else was going to leave, Hayate began the preliminary.

"If everyone will leave the arena we will begin."

The Genin walked up a set of stairs and were soon joined by their Jonin sensei. Some of the Genin wondered how their opponents would be selected, only to get their answer in the form of a flat screen that lowered from the ceiling.

Two sets of names rapidly flipped through the screen before stopping. The selected names were Sasuke and Kiba. The Inuzuka gave an excited yell before taking his place on the arena floor, Sasuke simply jumping down into his spot opposite of Kiba.

* * *

><p>Naruto couldn't help but feel disappointed as he watched medic nins pick up Kiba's burnt body and carry it out of the room on a gurney, his faithful dog following after them. Kiba had told Akamaru to stay out of the fight as he wanted to prove that he could take on Sasuke by himself.<p>

The fight had started out as a trade of punches and kicks. Sasuke's eyes were blazing with the Sharingan two tomoe form. With his Sharingan active, Sasuke began winning the taijutsu fight as he began to predict Kiba's movements.

Realizing that he was losing the fight, Kiba retreated away from Sasuke, who threw several kunai and shuriken. Without hesitation Kiba pulled out his trump card. His features became more beast like as he hunched over and jumped towards the projectiles. Many had gasped as Kiba suddenly spun his body around till it appeared as nothing but a gray cyclone.

Easily knocking the projectiles aside, Kiba continued flying towards Sasuke. A stinging pain in his neck caught Sasuke off guard and he had only been able to barely dodge and three long slashes ran down Sasuke's arm as proof that he had not been able to fully dodge the attack.

As soon as Kiba's feet touched the ground, he turned around and leapt towards Sasuke again. This time before spinning his body he threw a smoke bomb onto the ground. The clouds of smoke effectively blocked both participates vision as well as hiding them from the spectators.

But Kiba's sight being taken away did little to hinder his attacks as he could still smell Sasuke, who on the other hand had to trust his ears to alert him. Sasuke had managed to dodge Kiba's airborne body, but only by split seconds. When the smoke cleared, Sasuke stood with various claw like slashes riddling his body.

An over confident Kiba didn't even bother throwing another smoke bomb and spun towards Sasuke again. Not intending to throw away an opening Sasuke spun through hands seals before leaping to the side. Once again pain throbbed from his curse mark, this time however Sasuke gritted his teeth and ignored it. As Kiba's hurling form passed by, Sasuke launched a fire ball from his mouth.

The second the large fire ball hit, the torrent of winds spread the flames and soon covered Kiba's body. The Inuzuka's rolled against the ground and his body shook as the scorch marks covering him throbbed, a pain filled cry rolling out of his mouth. He had tried to get up, but quickly collapsed back onto the ground.

Seeing that the fight was over, Hayate declared Sasuke the winner.

After that fight, a few quick ones passed by. Tenten had fought Gaara and had to forfeit when she discovered that none of her thrown weapons could get through Gaara's sand. The fact that his opponent had quit before he could even fight had infuriated Gaara. A stern command from his Jonin sensei seemed to keep Gaara from attacking his defeated opponent, though Naruto doubted Gaara even considered the man as his sensei.

The fight afterwards was Hinata against one of the rain Genin. The fight began with the Rain nin performing a genjutsu that created several copies of himself and scattering them among the room. The shy Hyuga though nervous, kept herself from being too distracted from the copies and activated her Byakugan. The Rain nin had ignorantly ignored the change in her eyes and made his way towards her back.

The second he was within a few feet, Hinata spun around and began stabbing her index and middle finger into several spots of his body, shutting off his chakra points in the process. The Rain nin had tried to make a retreat only to have his legs shut down as well. With her opponent unable to move, Hinata took a few steps back and waited for Hayate to declare her the winner before taking her place back on the upper level.

Naruto decided to make his way over to Team 8 and congratulate Hinata. "Good job Hinata!"

"T-T-T-Thank y-you." she stuttered out with a dark blush covering her cheeks.

Naruto chuckled at Hinata's shyness before looking at Shino and seeing his tense figure. Looking at the screen he noticed that Shino name was shown on the screen while the other name had yet to be picked. Shino's posture relaxed and he let out a sigh of relief when the name Misumi Tsurugi appeared.

Naruto chuckled as Shino's team gave the Aburame heir a questioning look. Having noticed the looks he was given, Shino decided to explain himself.

"There are two people here that I do not wish to fight. Gaara and Naruto." he said in his usual stoic voice.

"Aahhhh, what's wrong Shino? We wouldn't bite…. much!" Naruto said, chuckling after he said _much_.

Hinata and Kurenai couldn't help but giggle at Shino's expense.

"As true as that is, I rather not fight you." Shino stated as he walked by them and made his way down to his spot in the arena.

Naruto looked over at Misumi and noticed that he was one of Kabuto's teammates. The realization came from the fact that just as the sound nins seemed to have a dress code, so did Kabuto's. The only difference between Misumi and Kabuto's choice in clothing was that Misumi draped a purple cloth over his face and wore his head band in a bandana style similar to Naruto along with thin glasses. His skin was slightly tanned and his eyes seemed in a permanently narrowed manner.

The fight didn't last long after Hayate announced the start as Misumi didn't appear to have any long range jutsu. With nothing preventing Shino from swarming the so called fellow Leaf nin with his bugs the match ended.

When Shino returned to the upper level, Naruto decided to state his disappointment.

"Geez, how the hell did he get this far? Looks like you were given a free pass Shino."

The bug user agreed with Naruto and began thinking of several reasons his opponent was so simple to overtake. Seeing as his friend was analyzing his situation, Naruto turned his attention back to the board and watched as two more names were picked.

He burst into a fit of laughter when Sakura's and Ino's names appeared. The other Leaf nins that knew Sakura and Ino didn't join in Naruto's laughter as they were aware of the broken friendship and rivalry between the two teenage girls. Oddly enough the match lasted far longer than any of the others before it. But fifthteen minutes into the match, Ino had captured Sakura in her family's jutsu and possessed her body.

Naruto had to admit that what Ino had done was rather smart, using her hair to stop Sakura's from moving. But he couldn't help feel bad for Sakura and decided to at least cheer for his teammate, hopefully help boost her morale and give her a small boost in the fight.

Strangely enough, Sakura had managed to break free and Ino had returned to her body. Afterwards the two ended up knocking each other out with a single punch, something that once again had Naruto laughing loudly while the others simply stared in shock. Both Asuma and Kakashi dropped down onto the arena floor in order to retrieve their respective students.

With the arena now empty save for Hayate, the board once more began the process of choosing the next two participants. Naruto jump over the railing without a second's hesitation when he saw his name flash to life and waited for his opponent. For some reason unknown to Naruto, Hinata's eyes widened when she saw her cousin's name appear. She sent a worried look towards Naruto, hoping he'd leave the arena in the same condition he entered.

Naruto looked towards the opposite end of the circular room and saw Neji Hyuga. Aside from the obvious fact that he was a Hyuga, Naruto didn't know much more about his opponent. He didn't know about his status, the fact that Neji was Hinata's cousin, nor the real reason he wore his headband over his forehead.

"You should give up and spare yourself the embarrassment." Neji stated in a matter of fact tone.

Naruto chuckled as he began to approach the center of the arena. "Oh, and what makes you believe you'll win?"

"Because fate has already determined the outcome of this fight."

Neji had expected many responses. Defiance, anger, shock, and even fear. But never did he expect full blown laughter. Naruto bent over and held his ribs as his laughs bounced off the walls and his eyes filled with tears of amusement.

As he began to calm down, Naruto gave Neji an amused look. "If there truly is such a thing as fate, then it has abandoned you."

Neji's pupil-less eyes seemed to focus as veins around his eyes bulged. "You can't say I didn't warned you!" he said as he dropped into a low stance. One arm pulled back and allowed it rest behind him while his other hand was brought forward with the palm facing Naruto.

Naruto's amusement had yet to fade as he let out a few small laughs. 'If there is such a thing as fate, then it brought the symbiote to us.'

Hayate looked at both teens before starting the match. "Begin!"

Neji had chosen to remain glued to his spot while Naruto began to walk a slow circle around him, a lax posture as his only stance. As his opponent stalked around him Neji turned his body so as to keep him in front of him, not that he needed to.

Naruto finally stopped and dashed towards Neji. When they were within striking distance, the two clashed. Naruto threw in several punches and kicks while Neji retaliated with many thrusts using his middle and index finger. After landing a hook across Neji's temple, Naruto staggered back.

'Gentle fists our ass! It felt like he just drove several four inch nails through our muscles.' thought Naruto as he rubbed one of the spots that had been hit.

Neji couldn't chase after Naruto as his vision had become blurred and fuzzy, the spot over his temple already showing signs of bruising.

"How preposterous! You think you can beat the Hyuga style with brawling." Neji stated in disbelief.

Naruto ignored Neji's words and shot a small thread towards Neji, yanking back as soon as the symbiote touched him. A quick chop from Neji severed the thread, but this didn't stop him from hurtling towards the wall.

Instead of hitting the wall head first, Neji flipped his body and landed on his feet and prepared to kick off. At least that was his plan. Instead Naruto had already jumped onto the same wall, landing on all four limbs and lunged towards him. Naruto tackled Neji off the wall, his hands holding onto Neji's shoulders, while his feet planted themselves onto his torso.

As soon as Neji's back touched the hard ground, Naruto kicked off, not but before the Hyuga slammed a gentle fist strike over his heart. Both teens' attacks rewarded them with pained grunts before the two separated. Naruto flipped away from Neji and landed on his hands and knees, his back facing towards the Hyuga's downed form.

Coughing could be heard from Naruto and the white teeth of his mask slowly stained red with blood as he attempted to calm his breathe. As soon as Naruto stood, a cold chill went up his spine.

"I can't believe…. I've been forced….. to fight you seriously." said Neji between pained gasps.

Naruto turned around and saw that Neji was now in a different stance, one that had him lower his entire body so that his left extended hand nearly touched his foot and his right hovered high behind him. Before Naruto could even react, Neji blurred towards him and landed two strikes.

"Two palms!" Neji declared.

Naruto took a step back as the impact pushed him, and found that Neji wasn't done yet as he continued thrusting even more sets of strikes. As Neji struck he openly stated the set he was on.

"Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms!"

Each strike pushed Naruto further and further until his back met the wall.

"Sixty-four palms!" Neji finished as he hit Naruto with the remaining thirty-two strikes of his attack.

Cracks formed in the wall behind Naruto as his body became abused against it. Witht he attack finished, his entire body seemed to slump and it appeared that the only thing holding him up was the wall he seemed embedded.

Neji took a step back and observed his work. A smile crept across his face despite his labored breathes.

"I told you that you were fated to lose. I've shut down all of your chakra points…. the fact that you're still standing is surprising enough." Confidence exuded off of him as he turned his head towards Hayate. "I've won, call the match."

Deciding to take one last look, Neji turned back towards Naruto, only to have an open hand block his vision and slam him against the wall. Hinata amongst others that knew about the gentle fist stared on in shock as the two had now switched places.

Naruto smiled as he held Neji, lifting him off the ground and proceeded to repeatedly slam his head against the wall. His chakra points had indeed been shut down as the pain coursing through his body made it easy to know even without the all seeing Byakugan. But while Naruto had chakra points, his symbiote did not. At the moment Naruto wasn't truly moving, his symbiote was controlling his body like a marionette would a puppet.

Despite his predicament Neji didn't simply sit or hang idly and allow Naruto to slam him against the wall and proceeded to attempt to fight back. He threw strikes to the arm holding him and attempted to throw kicks that would hopefully force Naruto to let go.

But this proved useless as his kicks couldn't gain enough strength while being held above the ground and his strikes couldn't do anything to the already shut down chakra points. The cracks and indent created from Naruto's body being beaten into the wall paled in comparison to the crater that Neji's body created and continued to deepen.

After the eighth slam Neji stopped fighting back and a look in between Naruto's fingers would show that Neji's eyes began to roll into the back of his head. Naruto brought Neji closer to him so he could whisper a few words of advice.

"I could care less if you decide to believe that everyone has a fate that they can't be avoid. But realize this, if there is such a thing, then fate gave us the unbreakable shield to your sword, fate decided to have you fight an opponent you couldn't defeat, and fate abandoned you to the beating you have received."

One of Neji's hands suddenly shot forward and struck Naruto left pectoral, a defiant look in his eyes as he fought to stay conscious. Blood seeped through Naruto's mask and dripped down his chin.

Despite the pain, Naruto simply chuckled. "Goooooddd. Fight back, don't let a word decide everything for you." he said before slamming Neji against the wall one last time, forcing him unconscious.

Neji's body dropped against the ground and Naruto walked away as Hayate declared him the winner. Jumping back onto the upper level, Naruto became aware of the stares he got from his fellow Leaf nin. Shino shook his head as he understood what many were thinking as he couldn't logically explain how Naruto could move after having his chakra points shut off either. But Shino had learned long ago that Naruto defied logic on many occasions. Hoping to help one of his few friends from the awkward attention, Shino decided to speak up.

"Now do you see why I don't want to fight him? His fighting style reminds me far too much like a spider."

The now red teeth on Naruto's mask mimicked the appreciative smile he had and Naruto sent a nod towards Shino, a hidden message Shino understood and returned. Many of the Leaf nins took their attention away from Naruto, but some still kept an eye on him, especially Hinata.

'Can he continue to fight through sheer determination alone?' she asked herself, her Byakugan active and showing her yet another mystery as his chakra points began to turn on one after another like stars in the sky.

Once Neji had been removed from the arena via medic nins the fights continued.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru ended up fighting one of the Rain Genin. Just as his teammate did, the Rain nin created several genjutsu clones except he proceeded to hide in one of the shadows created from said clones. Anyone that knew about the Nara clan and their abilities would have known better.<p>

Shikamaru left the arena after forcing his opponent to slam his head against the arena wall. Afterwards Choji fought against Temari. In the middle of the fight Naruto commented on how Choji never stood a chance. Especially with how Temari could use her fan to float above Choji as he turned himself into a living bowling ball or meat tank as his jutsu implied.

After Choji was forced to revert back, Temari swung her fan and created a tornado that lifted Choji off the ground and proceeded to dig several slashes into his skin. Temari left the arena untouched while Choji had been carried away.

Lee's battle had him fighting Kabuto's other teammate. A fight easily won by Lee as his opponent's main ability revolved around him touching someone in order to absorb their chakra. A few punches ended the fight and the final fight between Kankuro and the last Rain nin. Before the fight even began, Kankuro released the bandages from the contraption on his back and revealed a bizarre brown, human sized puppet.

A shaggy wig acted as the puppets hair and it had been given three eyes. Its long dirt colored cloak covered much of its body except for its four arms and two legs that hung lazily beneath it. At the start of the match, Kankuro's puppet flew across the room and latched its four arms around the Rain nin.

"Let me guess… you were going to create clones and hide." Kankuro stated smugly. "Well too bad. Give up or I'll have Crow crush your bones." he threatened.

With no way out the Rain nin had no choice but to give in.

Hayate, the Hokage, and the other examiners approached the center of the arena and signaled for the winners to approach.

* * *

><p><strong>A Week Later<strong>

Naruto traveled across Konoha in search of a sensei. After the preliminaries ended the Hokage explained that they would have a month to rest and prepare for the third and final part of the Chunin exams. Afterwards Anko walked in front of them and had them reach into a box to take a number. Naruto didn't pay attention to the numbers the others recieved and simply waited patiently for his turn while taking the time to properly admire Anko's curves. Something that Anko was fully aware of as she sent a playful glare at Naruto once it was his turn to draw a number.

When everyone was done drawing their number, a chart was displayed to show everyone who they would fight. Naruto snickered at the fact that he would get to fight the person that beat Sasuke, Lee.

Afterwards Kakashi had offered to train both Sasuke and Naruto, but Naruto had passed it up and warned Kakashi exactly what Gaara was. With the new knowledge Kakashi immediately agreed and began making plans to train Sasuke in a more private area.

Naruto had chosen to rest the next few days as the gentle fist strikes had harmed him a lot more than he let on. Afterwards he began trying to find the person he wanted to learn from. Only problem was that he couldn't seem to find his intended instructor. He could have easily asked the Hokage to set up a meeting, but chose not to as he felt the old man had enough on his hands.

So instead Naruto began gathering information. He asked several questions about his hopeful teacher such as home address, hobbies, and even places frequented. Naruto didn't even bother with the home address as he got some unknown thrill from actually having to hunt down his target. So instead he simply waited for the opportune moment to strike. He didn't know when his simply search for an instructor became a game, but he enjoyed it.

Landing in front of a small restaurant, he proceeded to walk in. Scanning the room, he quickly spotted his target and continued to silently move forward until he was a mere feet away.

"Hello Anko. Isn't it such a nice day?"

Anko quickly spun around with a kunai in her hand, stopping once she saw Naruto and a grin spread across her face.

"Well if it isn't Naruto. Shouldn't you be training with Kakashi?"

Naruto took a seat next to Anko and ordered a plate of dango. "We passed up the chance in order to seek training from someone that interests us."

Anko's brow rose in interests. "Oh, and who is the person you plan to have train you?"

"Why….. you of course." Naruto said playfully.

His words shocked her only for a moment before her earlier attitude came back.

"Hah! And why would you want me to train? While we're at it why should I take time out of my schedule to train you?"

Naruto chuckled. "Why wouldn't we want someone as skilled and beautiful to train us. "

"Flattery will only get you so far brat."

Naruto's order of dango finally arrived and Naruto slid the plate towards Anko. "Oh we have much more than flattery to offer in return for your tutelage."

Picking up one of the sticks of dango, Anko bit off one of the round balls of pastry. "Hmmmm but I can easily buy my own dango."

Instead of getting discouraged Naruto simply decided to _up the trade._ Carefully walking behind Anko, he placed his hands on her shoulders and began messaging them.

"There are other things we can offer. Things that someone of your career could easily buy but wouldn't get the quality of service we offer."

"Mmmm, you have a point there." said Anko as she enjoyed the sensation of the knots on her shoulders being rubbed loose.

She had already decided to train him, but it wouldn't have been any fun if she gave in to his request immediately. Truth be told, Naruto interested her. The fact that the Hokage spoke so highly of him during the Genin team selections had made her curious and now she had been given the chance to actually train him.

"So tell me brat. When do you want to start?"

* * *

><p>Author note: Sorry if reading about Dosu's arm was disturbing but when I was rereading the manga and saw Zaku blow one of his arms off thanks to Shino and not start screaming bloody murder I couldn't help but think WTF. I mean seriously, Sasuke breaks both of his arms and he screams, but one of them explodes and he's perfectly fine. He even proceeded to try and punch Shino with the other one afterwards. LOL.<p>

Anyway I feel I should warn you that there will be other scenes just as disturbing in the future.

On another note, planning out the fights was a pain in the ass. Except for Sasuke's, Naruto's and Sakura's fights, I had to keep randomizing the fights until I got a fight selection that I felt ok about.


	6. Chapter 6:Us, you, and this arena

Along Came a Symbiote

Author's Note: I am terribly sorry for how long it took me to get this chapter out. I had gotten fired from my last job and then I had to hunt for a job, and then I finally got another job, but work has been keeping me working nearly 10 hour days, and I hate my current job. Long story short, life has been a pain. I'm going to try and get a new job, one that doesn't leave me depressed at the end of the day. Also I'm going to try and update this story more.

Once again sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoy

Chapter 6:Us, you, and this arena

* * *

><p>The sun, damn did she hate it during a morning, or evening as far as she knew, like this. Her head throbbed, a noise too loud might as well have been nails across a chalk board and she felt a pressure on her stomach that didn't usually exist.<p>

After five more minutes of unsuccessful attempts to fall asleep again, Anko finally cracked open one of her eyes and saw a head full of blonde hair lying across her stomach. A frown appeared on her face when she couldn't recall the specific details of last night. She tried to gain a closer look at his face, but the wild hair and the fact that he was facing away blocked her view. Moving wasn't an option as she quite honestly didn't want to move at the moment, and doing so regardless would most likely alert her intruder/guest.

So instead she simply resigned herself to studying him and her surroundings. The blonde teen was sprawled out on his back on top of her bed with limbs hanging over the bed, much like herself, and used her stomach as a pillow. Aside from his black long sleeved shirt and matching boxers, he was half naked. A closer look at her self revealed that she wasn't in any better condition as she was only dressed in her mesh top and skirt, her belt half undone.

'If we were planning on doing something, we passed out way before we could get to the good stuff.'

Now that she was done accessing his and her situation, she turned her attention to the rest of her room. Her dark green walls seemed to help dull the headache she had at the moment, while looking at her floor only aggravated it with how the light seemed to brighten from the cream color. Pieces of clothes littered the ground among various other things such as scrolls and ninja items. It wasn't exactly a mess, though it definitely needed some cleaning done. She attributed the knocked over lamp next to her drawer as a casualty from making her way to the bed last night.

Her guest, as she accepted him as, finally moved his head so that it was facing the valley of her breast and Anko got a better look at him. Some of his hair still shadowed his face, but that was quickly solved with a slip of her fingers.

Anko could admit to feeling slightly better knowing that Naruto was the one currently sleeping on her bed and not some stranger she got too drunk to scare away. Seeing his face reminded her of the last few weeks, and how she grew to like the blonde Genin and his "I don't give a damn attitude".

Having been given the opportunity to train and observe Naruto helped Anko understand what the Hokage saw in him. While an Uchiha could copy a jutsu with a mere glance of their Sharingan, that was all they could do, just copy it. Naruto on the other hand was different. He was a fast learner that was for sure. It had only taken him a little over a week to learn and perform what she taught him flawlessly. But he didn't stop there. Anko learned exactly what Sarutobi meant when he said that Naruto didn't really need a sensei. After learning the two jutsu he was taught, he continued experimenting with the jutsu and learning to use them in various ways Anko had never thought of.

Another thing Anko found out was that Naruto didn't merely spend his time learning new jutsu like many would as he made sure to continue training himself physically as well, though looking at his body made that obvious. Deciding to observe his physical training brought Anko to Naruto's house and gave her further insight into who he was.

Surprisingly Naruto was rather neat and kept his house clean for the most part. Another thing she learned was that he made due with what he had. Instead of sleeping in his bedroom, he slept on his couch. The reason for this was so he could turn his bedroom into a workout room, complete with a bench press among other weight lifting tools. Seeing the various weights made it easy to see how Naruto had gained the muscles that were uncommon on a teen his age.

She hadn't truly expected it but at the end of each training day Naruto kept his word. A plate full of dango, a pleasing shoulder and back massage, and to top it all off, good company were her payments at the end of each day.

Naruto, he was different from most people. It was rare to find someone like herself that didn't care about what most people thought. It's not like she was lonely. Anko had several people she could call her friends, but most of them were either co-workers or women her age and had their own stress to deal with. Naruto was a breathe of fresh air, just someone she could relax with without trading stories of dislike or boredom.

A groan from Naruto woke Anko from her thoughts and hinted to her that he was waking up as well. She fixated him with a stare as she waited with curious mischief, pondering what his exact reaction would be.

* * *

><p>Throbbing, it was the first thing he felt, heard, and couldn't get out of his mind as he woke up. The sun caused his eye lids to scrunch as the rays of light were highly uncomfortable on his face. Never the less, he opened his eyes to begin the process of waking.<p>

Naruto hadn't questioned the odd sensation of his pillow or the fact that his couch felt far too comfortable or spacious, at least not until he came face to face with the thinly veiled bust that belonged to Anko. He was smart enough to not focus too long on the nicely shaped body as the facts that he was not in his house, not on his couch, and sleeping on top of someone became apparent. His eyes slowly made their way slowly towards Anko's face.

The feral grin on Anko's face was all the warning Naruto needed and he quickly leapt to his feet just in time to escape Anko's reach. The sudden movement was a mistake on both sides as they both clutched their heads and groaned as the hangover hit them harder than before. Naruto staggered while attempting to find the nearest bathroom with Anko heading towards the kitchen. His first task once he closed the door was to rummage through Anko's medicine cabinet. Looking over and reading the ingredients of any over the counter medicine he could find. The throbbing of his head made it hard to concentrate, and the symbiote's angry chastising of how Naruto poisoned them didn't make things any better.

After finding that none of the medicines alone would solve his current problem, Naruto grabbed a small white bottle of aspirin and swallowed two of the white pills. It wouldn't cure his headache, but it would be a good start. While he was waiting on the effects to kick in, Naruto thought about his current predicament. Nothing had happened between him and Anko. That was obvious despite his current dress attire.

Oddly enough it was the fact that he was wearing little clothes that helped convince him that nothing happened. Normally he slept naked and the fact that he wore anything last night hinted that he had enough sense to keep at least some of his clothes on. Anko not killing him in his sleep was another nice assurance.

Making his way back to the door, he allowed a small sliver of his symbiote to crawl through the crack of the door and check on where Anko was. Finding that she was not in her bed room, Naruto opened the door and gave a quick command for his suit to add on a pair of pants for him.

Afterwards he made his way to the kitchen, stopping only to raid the fridge in order to mix various ingredients to finish his 'cure'. He gave his mystery brew a final stir before heading towards the living room and finding Anko laying across her couch while watching a program on her TV. If she was curious about where he found his pants she didn't show it.

Instead she gave the red liquid Naruto was drinking a questioning look. "What the hell is that?" she asked bluntly.

Naruto took another gulp before answering. "Secret hangover cure." his answer being roughly sarcastic.

Anko simply stared at the cup in Naruto's hand for several minutes before holding her hand out. Noticing the out stretched limb, Naruto decided to take one last swig before handing the remains over.

Looking into the half filled cup, Anko gave a cautionary sniff before jerking back like an animal smelling something possibly dangerous.

"What's it made of?" she asked.

Naruto's face split into a grin, already feeling the hangover slowly disappear.

"It wouldn't be a secret if we told you." he stated with more glee than Anko liked.

Pinching her nose, Anko attempted to drink the remaining red liquid in one gulp. The digits closing her nostrils did nothing to prevent the burning sensation that traveled down her throat. If it wasn't for the fact that her headache was dulling, Anko would swear she was being pranked into drinking a tabasco filled drink.

Naruto chuckled as he watched Anko's face turn red, while she attempted to keep tears from spilling from her eyes. With his hangover slowly leaving him, his memories of the previous night began to return to him, though it held its gaps.

PUT LINE HERE

The bar was filled with several voices, each talking about their own topics and news. Random chatter such as this was not uncommon in such a place, especially one that's common goal was to serve liquor of various flavors and potencies. But what was uncommon was the sight that many had focused their eyes on at the front of the bar. Centered in the center of the bar stools was Anko and Naruto, both laughing and drunk. Seeing Anko around wasn't surprising. And seeing Naruto, with his Leaf headband on wasn't surprising either. Being a licensed ninja allowed anyone to be considered an adult, and Naruto wasn't the first Genin to ever have a drink at a young age and wouldn't be the last. What did surprise many, was that Anko had walked in with Naruto and ever since sat, talked, and even drank with him.

Most times that Anko came to have a drink, she did it alone, and any guy that had decided to "attempt" to flirt with her or openly stared at her figure too perversely, found that their good night was cut short. Yet here was a boy half their age, "admiring" her body for all it was worth and openly making flirtatious comments about her. Some believed the only reason Naruto had not been beaten within an inch of his life was the fact that he was still only a teen. Others had believed that Anko had simply gotten too drunk to care, though this theory was quickly thrown away when a, what he must have thought of himself at the time, stud decided to try and steal Anko from Naruto.

Many could still remember Naruto's laughter while Anko began to tear into the so called "stud" verbally and forced the man out of the bar with a whole slew of threats and promises.

"You've had enough son." The bar keeper stated, as he proceeded to try and remove the bottle of whisky from in front of Naruto.

Both Naruto's and Anko's hand shot forward and grabbed a part of the half full bottle.

"Nowz Nowz, this is my studentz. AND I wantsss to celibratesss hiss first time innnss a bar all prooperrs." Anko said.

Naruto nodded sloppily while agreeing with Anko. "Yeeaaahh. We stillss have a b-b-b- BAC, wez needdss an ABC."

The bartender gave a confused look at Naruto. "An ABC?"

Once again Naruto sloppily nodded his head. "An Alcoholss Blood Contentss."

Anko began laughing at Naruto's stupid joke and the waiter let out a sigh when he saw that he wouldn't be prying the bottle from their hands BEFORE they succumbed to alcohol poisoning.

"Have it your way."

"GLADLY!" both exclaimed.

The two refilled their glasses before continuing their social drinking.

"Anko….. youz sure we should be drinkings this muchs a few dayz before the Chunin e-e-examz." Naruto asked.

Anko chuckled before taking another sip of her drink. "Comesss on, y-you've already llleeaarrrneedd the thinnnggs youz waaannted to learn fromz me. W-Whatss a day or twos recoveringz from a hangover." she said before breaking out into a laugh.

The laugh seemed infectious, at least for Naruto as he began laughing with her. The rest of their night continued going along similar as time went by before they both left to retire for the night.

* * *

><p>"Don't choke." Naruto said<p>

Anko's coughs slowly died down as the burning sensation slowly dulled. A glare was sent towards Naruto, not that he minded.

"…" Anko had opened her mouth to speak, but a hoarse wheeze was all she could manage.

Getting up, she returned to the kitchen only to come out with a glass of water. She downed half of the glass before making her second attempt at speech.

"Hah, so tell me. What all do you remember about last night?" she asked.

"Bits and pieces. We went to a bar, talked, drank, and returned here." Naruto said. "Nothing happened between us." he decided to add.

Anko let out an amused laugh. "I figured as much. _Still got my panties on_." she whispered the last part, though Naruto's ear's picked up on it.

"You never told me what your strategies are for your opponents." Anko suddenly brought up.

Naruto simply gave Anko a curious look while she returned the look.

"Well don't you think as your sensei, no matter how temporary, you should tell me your battle plan?"

After a moments thought Naruto began listing off the different strategies he had planned out. "Hinata will be the easiest. We get the feeling she doesn't want to fight us, though if she does decide to fight us, we'll handle her like we did Neji…. we guess we shouldn't be as rough. Shikamaru will be trouble, that is if he is taught the more advanced techniques of his family. Other wise he'll just be an annoyance, we best assume he has been taught. Even so…. so long as we keep our distance, he won't be able get us-"

"You shouldn't underestimate him. He may be lazy but he's far smarter than anyone your age."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "That might be true, but his stamina sucks. If I was fighting all three of the InoShikaCho, then we'd be worried. But alone, he'll have to find a way to capture us himself, something we intend to only allow after we've exhausted him."

Anko nodded her head. "Alright how about the others then, such as your teammate Sasuke?"

Naruto began laughing. "We highly doubt we'll have to fight Sasuke."

"What makes you think that he'll lose his match?" Anko asked, a puzzled look crossing her face.

"Sasuke's first opponent is Gaara. He's a fellow jinchuuriki." Naruto partially lied. "At most Kakashi could have taught Sasuke how to survive his fight. I doubt Sasuke could have been taught enough to actually beat Gaara with only a month of training."

She had to agree with him. A Genin, no matter how talented, couldn't hope to actually beat a host of one of the tailed beasts with only a months worth of training.

"Well how do you plan to beat Gaara then?"

The question was followed with silence as Naruto's face scrunched in thought.

"We doubt that he has shown his full power, but from what has been seen it revolves around his sand. So far the only plan we have been able to come up with is to force him to chase us with his sand. Then after it's been spread out far enough we'll close in and attempt to fight him… hopefully his sand will be too thin to block our attacks."

Anko's face mirrored Naruto's. "That doesn't sound like much of a plan." she stated.

Naruto shook his head. "We know, unfortunately if we can't thin out his sand, no attack whether close or long range will be able to harm him."

She saw the sense in that but. "But still, you're relying on a theory. Then again it's not like you can simply look up his information and find a weak spot. Ok well let's move onto your other opponents."

Naruto continued explaining the rest of his strategies to Anko. Afterwards he headed home in order to truly rest for the remaining two days.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Two days Later<span>**

Anko couldn't help but notice how quiet the stadium seemed despite how packed the rows upon rows of seats were. Yeah the final part of the Chunin exams had yet to start, but one would think the several hundred people talking would seem loud.

"I didn't think you would be here Anko." asked a feminine voice.

Anko looked to her side to see Kurenai and Kiba approaching the empty seats next to her. Kiba still had bandages wrapped around various places on his body; luckily his hood protected his head and hair from the majority of Sasuke's fire jutsu.

Anko smiled as Kurenai and her student sat down. "I really didn't plan on attending, but my student asked me to baby sit his friend."

"I don't need you to babysit me!" Haku growled out from the seat behind her.

Kurenai ignored the feminine boy in favor of feeding her curiosity. "Your student? I didn't know you had one."

Anko chuckled. "Well I didn't before last month, but three weeks ago he approached me and asked for my … _tutelage_."

"Hmmm, he." Kurenai stated before she began openly ticking off the known male competitors and the reason they wouldn't go after Anko in order to learn.

"Can't be Sasuke or Naruto, they have Kakashi to teach them."

After this was said Anko's smile grew mischievous and a small bit of her tongue stuck out between her teeth. This wasn't missed by Kurenai and she quickly moved on it.

"Which one?"

Anko puffed out her chest, much to Kiba's delight. "It was Naruto, said I had something that Kakashi couldn't offer him."

Kurenai's face scrunched up in confusion. "What do you have that Kakashi, the copy nin doesn't?"

"Ah ah. I can't go and tell the enemy what my student has up his sleeves." Anko said

"The enemy?" Kurenai asked confused.

"Yeah, you have two students in this tournament. The other here having an unsuccessful talk with pretty boy here."

Having heard this, Kiba abandoned his one sided conversation. "So where is Naruto? I don't see him down there yet."

Anko simply shrugged her shoulders.

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto's apartment<strong>

Naruto looked into the full body mirror, his clothes constantly shifting forms.

'Need something that's convenient for our fighting style yet appease the judges in what they believe a ninja should look like.'

His mimic Anbu clothing was instantly replaced by a black mimic Chunin outfit.

'No, don't want to appear cocky. Let's just start off with the first layer.'

The symbiote morphed into a skin tight body suit with a mask covering his head as well.

'Alright we want to be noticeable but not too flashy. Possible clients will want a face.'

The mask withdrew to reveal his tanned face, blonde spiky hair, and blue eyes.

'Add some sandals, some trousers… not leather, and maybe a loose turtle neck.'

The black suit shifted to his desired thoughts. He took one last look at his image before adding a few more changes.

'Make the sleeves wider and shrink the torso so that it's almost as skintight as the first layer. And for the final touch, our own little insignia'

The spider emblem that had been on his previous choice of attire bled to life among his new shirt.

"Perfect! And now for a touch of professionalism." he said before making his way towards his dresser, picking up his Leaf headband and tying it to his forehead.

The clock on his wall caught his attention, and a slight bit of panic coursed through him.

"Shit! Only five minutes till the Chunin exams start."

Naruto didn't bother with the door and simply jumped out his living room window.

* * *

><p>Reaching the stadium had only taken him roughly three to four minutes. Though this had been due to swinging, leaping, and what many called "flying" across the village. Now Naruto stood outside of the arena contemplating on whether to make a flashy entrance or simply walk in. His want to impress a few clients eventually veered him towards being flashy and he began running next to the side wall of the stadium.<p>

When he reached a fast enough pace, he shot a long thread of his symbiote to the top of the wall, allowing his momentum to swing him forward. Seeing he would need a little more push for his swing to be successful, he swung his feet forward, giving him the needed inertia. Having swung full circle, Naruto found himself upside down and let go just as his swing brought him over the wall and towards the center of the arena. Instead of just allowing his body to fly towards the hard earth, Naruto curled his arms and legs to his chest before letting his body to spin with the motion. Just as he reached the ground his feet touched down and he slid several feet before coming to a stop in front of the other participants.

A chorus of claps came from several impressed spectators with a few murmurs accompanying them.

Naruto looked towards the other contestants to see their reactions. Hinata looked her usual self, blushing, and surprisingly she was one of people who clapped. Gaara seemed uninterested in his acrobatic landing with his siblings giving mixed responses. Kankuro seemed confused and clearly didn't recognize Naruto. And Temari was slightly impressed with a bit of shock added in. Shikamaru didn't seem to care and Shino was his usual stoic self, though Naruto had received the usual greeting nod. Finally Naruto looked towards his first opponent and found an excited Lee.

Naruto chuckled at Lee's behavior. Most would be nervous from Naruto's display and the fact that he was their first opponent. Then again Naruto knew that Lee was no push over in taijutsu, something both boys specialized in.

* * *

><p><span>On the stands<span>

"Looks like he has the right idea." Anko murmured.

Kurenai nodded her head in agreement while a puzzled Kiba simply stared at Naruto before voicing his confusion.

"Right idea? What are you talking about?"

Anko stayed silent for a few seconds as she observed Naruto. "The final part of the Chunin exams is held with several local and foreign nobles, which in short means clients for us. Naruto's new wardrobe is closer to the idea of what most expect ninja to look like, with little alterations here and there. The small things such as the large spider emblem on his shirt and his bright blonde hair will make it easier for the nobles to notice and recognize him more while his dark and light weight clothing help the examiners take him more serious. Add in his special entrance and now he has everyone's attention."

Kiba thought over everything he had been told. He understood much of what was said, but there were small pieces that didn't seem to make sense.

"So what's so important about gaining the nobles attention?" he asked curiously.

Kurenai decided to take over seeing as she was Kiba's sensei, it only made sense that she teach him.

"By gaining the noble's attention Naruto has gained several possible clients. Even if he doesn't make Chunin, he will have several people wanting him for missions-"

"Which will give him several chances to be promoted." Anko interjected.

Before Kiba could ask another question, Kurenai decided to continue on. "The more missions you perform, the more mission reports go in your file. If the Kage of the village reviews your records and feels that you are ready to become a Chunin, then there is the possibility that you may be given an alternative Chunin test."

Kiba seemed to get excited at the prospect of becoming a Chunin soon after the exams and Kurenai decided it was best to better explain things.

"This alternative test is rare though. It usually requires several high ranking missions and compliments from clients or higher ranked fellow nins before a Kage will decide to review your files. In short, you would have to be doing exceptionally better than most in your rank, gain the satisfaction of various clients, and gain the respect of your colleagues. Naruto has already impressed Asuma, who has written it down in his mission report which was also copied as a foot note into Naruto's files."

Kiba gave a whistle out of amazement. "Damn, I didn't know mission reports were so important."

"You should always give full detail when writing a mission report." Kurenai stated. "A report can show if you've fought infamous foreign nins, how you handled various situations, among many other things."

Anko laughed. "Just don't go lying on your report. It isn't hard for the Hokage to discover if you're lying. One way or another, he. Will. Find. Out. And when that happens you better expect a lost in rank at the very least."

Kurenai decided to only confirm this statement with a nod as she turned her attention to the arena instead as the final part of the exams began.

* * *

><p>A new examiner acted as the referee for the Chunin exams in place of Hayate. Who this new person was and why the sick Tokubetsu Jonin wasn't present didn't matter to Naruto, as he simply stared at Lee with a feral and challenging grin while Lee returned it with fierce determination.<p>

"My name is Genma Shiranui and I will be the referee for this portion of the Chunin exams. Now will everyone except Rock Lee and Naruto Uzumaki leave the arena floor?"

With that said the other participants made their way towards their observation level and waited for the match to begin. Both Lee and Naruto continued to stare each other down and made no other movements other than the slight shift into a battle stance.

Genma looked back and forth between the two eager teens. "Looks like you two are ready to go. The rules are the same as last time. Both of you will fight until one of you can no longer fight or you give up. Killing is allowed but if I've already determined the winner and you kill your opponent regardless then you'll be disqualified. Do you understand?"

Naruto and Lee simply gave a nod.

"Good. Alright fight!" Genma shouted.

Lee dashed toward Naruto the instant Genma declared the start of the match. This didn't bother Naruto as he was just as impatient for the match to begin. A flying spin kick aimed for the head was blocked by both of the blonde Genin's arms. This had left Naruto open on his other side, something Lee decided to take advantage of with a quick right straight.

Lee's attacks were successful but not without him receiving a similar punch from Naruto.

The two stumbled back, or in Naruto's case, took a step back before fixing each other with a predatory glare. It was Naruto that dashed towards Lee this time, though not as fast and threw a quick series of jabs and hooks. The jabs had been easy to block and parry, unfortunately for Lee the hooks had either broken his guard or unbalanced him with their sheer strength.

Ducking under an over extended hook, Lee grabbed the arm and threw Naruto over his shoulder. Said blonde simply righted himself midair before leaping back at Lee. The two once again engaged in hand to hand combat, except this time Lee was prepared for Naruto's fast and powerful strikes.

Seeing that he wasn't making any progress with his fist alone, Naruto decided to switch tactics and used an overpowered kick to Lee's side in order to force some distance between himself and his opponent. The kick worked as planned and Naruto thrust his left fist forward. A thin tendril of his symbiote shot forward and connected with Lee's shoulder and he pulled back hoping to set Lee off balance.

But just has he yanked his fist back, Lee used his own in order to form his hand into a chopping form and quickly severed the link between him and Naruto.

"Seems you learned from your teammates fight." Naruto stated

Lee reaffixed his stance before responding. Making sure that his left arm was held behind his back while his right was held in front of him, the back of his hand facing Naruto with his finger curled as if he was about to perform a come forward motion.

"There was much that I learned from that fight." a moment of silence filled the air before Lee burst from his spot. "Such as the fact that you're holding back!"

Lee spun his entire body forward, leading with his right foot as the rest of his body followed the motion while airborne. Naruto didn't waste anytime throwing his arm to his side and tensing his entire body, bracing himself for the blow.

* * *

><p>"Duck!" shouted Kiba as he watched the fight go on with his whole attention focused solely on the fight. Haku sat next to him, giving the match the same kind of attention. A thunderous boom filled the air as Lee's kick connected with Naruto's arm.<p>

"Leaf whirl-"

Lee's declaration was halted by his own shock as his kick only caused Naruto to lean slightly to the side. With his body still in mid flight, there was nothing Lee could do as Naruto's right fist smashed across the side of his face.

"Why didn't he duck?" Kiba asked, clearly confused.

"Because it was unnecessary." Was Haku's response.

Everyone's attention turned to the previously silent boy. While Kurenai and Anko understood that Naruto made the correct choice, they were also curious about Haku's thoughts on the matter.

"I don't know enough about all the fighters here, but from what I've seen there are key difference between Naruto and Lee."

Haku allowed the thought to set in before continuing on.

"Lee is faster than Naruto, and possibly a bit stronger in strength. But Naruto's reflexes along with his heavier body gives him the advantage in close range fighting."

"How does Naruto having a heavy body give him an edge and why would it even matter in a fight between shinobi?"Kiba asked.

Haku took a moment to think, trying to find the best way to explain exactly what he meant.

"The answers in reverse, when has this ever been a fight between two shinobi. So far they have simply been brawling. As far as Naruto's weight, simply put. It makes it harder for Lee's attacks to have an effect."

Understanding dawned on Kiba's face. "I see, so that's why he didn't dodge Lee's kick. Cause he could withstand it…. right?"

A curt nod was Haku's reply.

"There are other things to consider as well." Kurenai added. "Such as the fact that Naruto's body was planted firm on the ground while Lee wasn't."

Kiba turned his attention towards his sensei, waiting for her to continue. It soon became apparent that she had no plans to continue and Kiba switched his attention back towards the fight.

It seemed that what Haku had said earlier was true. Naruto stood relaxed, a few scuff marks on his face but otherwise he was ok. It was Lee who seemed to have taken a beating. Naruto's mouth began moving but thanks to the distance between them, Kiba and several others could not make out what was being said.

Anko on the other hand stood up and growled. During her ninja carrier she had been taught to read lips and understood exactly what Naruto was saying.

'We're tired of this Lee. We know full well that you're still wearing your weights. Take them off now and fight us seriously. If you don't we'll continue to fight you with the minimal effort needed to beat you.'

Lee's look went from determined to shock within a second.

"I told him not to instigate Lee into removing his weights! What is he thinking?" Anko growled out.

A look towards the judges showed them scribbling down on their boards, obviously having read Naruto's lips as well and marking him down.

Lee suddenly turned his attention towards the stands and gave a questioning look. Might Guy appeared to be in a thinking pose next to his other students before returning Lee's look with a smile and gave a thumbs up.

Naruto smiled as he observed the entire thing and waited as Lee began removing the weights. The ground trembled as the weights were dropped and Lee returned to his battle stance once more.

Kiba could only wonder how the few weights Lee removed would help him. He opened his mouth to voice his question but was unable to say anything before Lee suddenly vanished, only to reappear in front of Naruto connect a solid kick to his face.

Unlike before where Naruto would have simply taken a few steps back, he stumbled before righting himself into a fighting stance. But once again Lee disappeared and struck from Naruto's blind spot.

"The hell!" Kiba shouted while he watched the fight completely turn in Lee's favor.

Naruto threw a few punches and kicks, only to hit air and shortly afterwards, sent flying by another of Lee's attacks.

* * *

><p>When Anko had told him about the intense training Guy had given Lee and the weights used in said training, Naruto had gotten excited. He knew he shouldn't have talked Lee into removing the weights but the idea of actually fighting someone his age that could actually fight on equal grounds with him was too much to pass.<p>

Naruto never believed he could lose against Lee, even now as the green clad Genin was pummeling into him; he believed there was a way to beat Lee. Once more his fighting instincts kicked in and he leapt back in time to barely dodge Lee and placed his back against the arena wall.

He placed his arms in a tight guard in front of him and began watching out for the dust that was kicked up every time Lee leapt from one spot to the next. The dust was his only clue of where Lee was and he planned to use it to his advantage. Placing his back towards the wall was a way to ensure that Lee couldn't attack him from behind.

Suddenly all traces of dust kicking up faded and Naruto narrowed his eyes as Lee had yet to appear. It was only thanks to the sound of air being pierced above him that Naruto tilted his body to the side fast enough as to only receive a grazing blow from Lee's downward kick and leapt away.

The ground crumbled beneath Lee as his foot collided with it before disappearing.

Now being forced away from the wall, Naruto was once more being attacked from all sides. Using chakra to stick him to the ground only helped him from being knocked to the ground while his body rocked from side to as the blows landed.

A punch slipped through his guard and his head spun to the side, blooding flying from his lips.

'Gotta do something soon. Our body can only take so much.'

Despite the pain that was steadily increasing in his body, Naruto focused on all the details he and his symbiote could observe. One thing he caught onto was the fact that Lee wasn't aiming for any of his vital organs or one area in general, most likely due to the fact that while Lee was moving at a speed that made him nearly invisible, his own vision was impaired. If Naruto had to guess, he assumed he appeared as an oddly shaped blur to Lee.

Another thing Naruto noticed was that Lee was visible a split second during his attack. Something he could have taken advantage of if he didn't have to recover from Lee's attacks after they landed.

But the most important thing Naruto noticed was that Lee was making a fatal mistake. He was following a pattern of attack, which made him predictable. He knew not if the focus needed to move at such speeds made Lee careless in other areas, but he couldn't think of any other reasons. Naruto realized he would have one chance. Just one chance to turn the entire match around, for if he missed this one opportunity then he risked Lee discovery his own mistake or worst passed out from the abuse his body was taking.

He waited. More attacks came and left new bruise, but he waited. Waited to make sure that he was sure about the pattern and went so far as to close his eyes so other details would not mislead him.

Suddenly Naruto's eyes snapped open and he made his move.

* * *

><p>It had happened so fast that most of the audience couldn't honestly tell what happened. One moment Naruto was being beaten within an inch of his life then... they didn't know what to think.<p>

Naruto suddenly ducked and Lee appeared behind him, his fist extended forward and over Naruto with his body still in mid flight. Then without warning Naruto's body spun in a one hundred and eighty degrees and what sounded like an implosion filled the arena. The only hint of what had created that noise was Naruto's fist buried into Lee's ribs and the pained expression on said Genin's face.

After what seemed like minutes, Lee began to back away with trembling steps until he turned around and collapsed onto his hands and knees, all the while carrying the same pained expression as if he were silently screaming.

Anko smiled when she saw Naruto perform two sets of hand seals. "It's about time this ended." she merely stated much to the confusion of the others around her.

Instead of pestering Anko for an answer, they turned back towards the arena and saw both Naruto and Lee standing. Neither looked as if they should have been even conscious, let alone standing.

Lee was the first to attempt to move, only to grab his side and freeze into place. Naruto gave a knowing smile and chuckled. It was hard to move when you had several broken ribs moving, scraping, and grinding as you made any kind of movement that involved twisting or turning the torso.

But broken ribs didn't seem to be enough to lower Lee's determination. Instead of raising his hand to forfeit, he choose instead to begin unwrapping the bandages around his forearms and allowing them to settle against ground as he prepared for one final attack.

A quick dash was all Lee could do to close the distance between him and Naruto, who was prepared and had his fist reared back in preparation. Ducking under Naruto's punch, Lee launched a foot towards his opponent's chin from his kneeled form. His foot found its mark and sent Naruto flying towards the sky, but not without renewing the screaming pain in his side. The pain didn't matter though; this was a last attempt at winning the fight. A last desperate attempt. If this failed, there would be no other Gates opened. The shear stress placed upon his body would only aggravate his wound and most likely leave him a bloody mess on the ground.

But his attack had landed and he felt assured that his attack would finish the fight. With a quick leap Lee placed himself within Naruto's shadow and began wrapping the bandages around Naruto's body, forming a cocoon of sorts. During his preparation, Lee noticed something that caused his sense to shout danger.

'Naruto's hair isn't brown.' Lee stated in his mind.

A savage kick to his ribs caused the green clad ninja to let go of the now dissolving mud clone. Lee was able to turn his head during his fall to see Naruto, performing hand seals as if that attack to his shattered ribs had not been enough.

Naruto wasn't leaving anything to chance. With the hand seals complete he threw an opened palm towards Lee. The sleeve of his shirt bulged before five black snakes shot out and headed straight for Lee. Each symbiote covered reptile wrapped themselves around a part of Lee. Two around his wrist, two around his waist, and the last around his throat.

The hidden shadow snake hand jutsu. The one reason he sought out Anko. As much as he cherished his self created web like attack, Naruto also understood it's limits. Such as the fact that a strong enough person could break the thin strands. Sure one solution could have been to simply increase it's thickness, but that would mean he would have to use more of his symbiote to create it. So when Naruto saw Anko use her hidden shadow snake jutsu, he knew that he had found a way to improve his web attack without using too much of his symbiote.

The mud clone was just a bonus that Anko talked him into learning. Her exact words were "Every ninja needs a clone of some kind that isn't that rookie illusion shit". Another bonus Naruto never intended for was signing the snake contract. Apparently Anko's jutsu was a variant of summoning and required the user to be a snake summoner.

Yanking his arm back dragged the snakes back as well. Seeing as the two were still falling, the snakes had simply pulled the two closer together. With his arms restrained, Lee could do nothing as Naruto planted his foot onto his chest and used him as a platform to jump off of. Flipping forward caused the snakes to once again follow Naruto's motion.

Finally landing onto the ground, Naruto swung his arms down and watched with a satisfied smile as the snakes slammed Lee into the ground. With a flick of his wrists, the snakes unwrapped themselves from Lee's prone body and slowly retreated back up Naruto's sleeve.

Genma waited until the snakes were out of site before walking over to Lee and inspecting the damage. It didn't take him long to declare Naruto the winner as Lee needed medical help immediately. A red stain was spotted growing on Lee's body and was quickly consuming the green spandex.

Naruto didn't jump back into the contestants' box and instead made his way for the stairs. It was only after he was out of site and within the hall way that he allowed his posture to slouch. A few more steps afterwards and he stumbled into the wall and clung to it for dear life in order to keep himself from falling over.

He didn't hear her foot steps but he knew she was there, slowly making her way towards him.

"I was going to say it suits you right for antagonizing him…. but you won so I guess I should be congratulating you. Good job Naruto."

Naruto looked up to Anko and chuckled. "Sorry. We know you told us not to, but-"

"Save it." she shook her head.

Bruises were beginning to form on his face and the shaking of his legs told her he needed rest… and help finding a place to rest.

"Come on." Anko held out her hand for him to grasp, knowing that offering her shoulder was out of the question with their size difference and carrying him there wasn't going to happen due to his pride.

Naruto took a second to grab her hand and steady himself.

"Thanks." he merely said while he used his other hand to reach back to the back of his neck and pulled a tight mask over his face. The mask was midnight black except for the two white bug-like eyes.

Anko merely assume it was to hide his bruises, but Naruto was simply ensuring his symbiote was covering his entire body and could work on slowly healing him.

* * *

><p>Kurenai, Kiba, and Haku waited for Anko to return and were shocked when Naruto returned with her. Naruto simply gave Haku and Kiba a nod before sitting next to Haku and laying back.<p>

"Wake us up when it's our turn to fight again." was his request before allowing himself to sleep.

Kurenai gave a worried look. "You shouldn't let him sleep. He may have a concussion."

"It's ok, I checked already." Anko simply replied. 'Not that he would listen even if he did have one, stubborn jackass.' she thought with a smile.

Haku merely stared at Naruto's sleeping form. Observing the person who had beat him, spared him, and now even attempted to help him whether he wanted it or not. Fighting him had shown Haku that Naruto wasn't like most ninjas. Watching from the sidelines had revealed even more.

At one time Zabuza had told Haku about a certain kind of ninja's and at the moment Haku couldn't help but replay those words through his head.

'_If I had to categorize ninja, I'd put them into three different types. There are your jutsu types who rely on ninjutsu and genjutsu to fight. Then there are your hand to hand types who use taijutsu and kenjutsu to fight. But the last type is the kind I consider the most dangerous. These ninja's rely on their wits in the midst of a Battle. As ninja, we forget that something as simple as a kunai can kill us, but these last kind of ninja don't… and they make full use of that using any means they can. Most ninja realize this and try to imitate this by their veteran years, but it's like the saying goes, you can't teach an old dog can't learn new tricks. I've tried, but I don't have it in me. I find myself reverting back to old tactics more often than I do new ones. Haku I want you to become this third type of ninja. It's the best way you can serve as my tool…. become what I can't and cover my weakness.'_

'Zabuza was right. You are dangerous, Naruto Uzumaki.' with that thought Haku turned back towards the next fight once more.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Twenty-five minutes later<span>**

"YOU DUMBASS!"

Naruto jerked upright, waking from Anko's yell. He was faintly aware of the sound of chirping birds and looked around to find the others around him plus Kakashi. Looking towards the arena made everything clear for Naruto and he turned back to Kakashi.

"YOU DUMBASS!"

* * *

><p><span>Author's note:<span> I'm not really happy with this chapter. I tried to fix it up as best as I could but... yeah I feel I could have done better. Well regardless I hope you enjoyed it.


	7. Chapter 7:Just between us psychopaths

Along Came A Symbiote

Author's Note: As some could see from the last chapter, Naruto and Anko are getting close, but don't think they're going to be dating or anything like that yet. Right now they are becoming friends and I don't plan on them becoming anything more than really close friends till after Shippuden, Which isn't as far away as some would think.

Hope you enjoy the early update and thanks for the reviews, felt you guys deserved it considering how long my last update took.

Chapter 7: Just between us psychopaths

* * *

><p>Tearing his kunai free from a sound nin, Kakashi couldn't help but worry about what had been said to him not too long ago. Before the invasion began, both Anko and Naruto tore into him about how careless it was to teach Sasuke the chidori.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Twenty –three minutes ago<strong>

"YOU DUMBASS!"

Kakashi turned to see his male student, the one currently not fighting for his life, stand up and begin marching towards him.

"We warned you about Gaara's status as a jinchuuriki so you could train him to survive the match. Not so he could kill him!"

Before Kakashi could begin to defend his action, Anko began yelling at him once more. "The punk has just gotten the curse mark and what do you do? You give him an assassination jutsu! What were you thinking?"

"I-"

"Have you thought about what could happen if Sasuke actually kills Gaara? We don't even know if Gaara's seal would hold up after death. The last thing we need within this arena is a four story tall demon playing GODZILLA WITH US!" Naruto yelled adding more volume to his last three words.

"BLOOD! IT'S MY BLOOOODD!"

Everyone's attention snapped towards the center of the arena and watched as Sasuke forcefully pulled his arm from the sphere of sand Gaara had created around himself. Sasuke's arm wasn't the only thing to be pulled form the orb as what could only have been described as a bestial sand arm was dragged out as well.

With one last tug, Sasuke freed himself from the sands grip and watched along with the audience as it slithered back into the hole he created.

While the last loyal Uchiha was recovering from his attack, Naruto and the others in the stand began to feel the effects of a genjutsu cast on them. Several of the ninja in the stand formed a quick hand sign and dispelled the sleep inducing jutsu while Naruto simply ignored it, his symbiote already dispelling it.

"Looks like things are going to get hectic." Naruto stated

* * *

><p><strong>Present Time<strong>

**Outside the Walls of Konoha**

Naruto swung through the forest he was in, giving up stealth so he could web swing at greater speeds. He had already passed by Sasuke who had been given a head start against him. Luckily Temari had set up traps and was acting as a deterrent so her brother could gain more distance from pusuers.

The symbiote bonded boy would admit to being impressed by Temari. From what he could see, Temari was tired from her previous fight. And instead of wasting what little chakra she had, she set up traps forcing Sasuke to watch his steps. As impressed as Naruto was, he had to acknowledge that right now Temari was an enemy. While this was a fact that didn't mean that Naruto couldn't do the female sand nin a favor and not join the fight. So out of respect he continued onto his main goal and chased after Gaara once more.

The next interference came in the form of Kankuro. A quick fight with him showed that the puppet nin was more trouble than he was worth. Unfortunately Naruto couldn't simply attempt to turn his back on the cat dressed nin or else the puppet would cut into him with their poison coated blades and leave him in no shape to face Gaara. As it was, he was still recovering from his fight with Lee and having something else slow him down was the last thing he needed.

Luckily Shino showed up and decided to take Kankuro off his hands. Something that Naruto was grateful for.

A patch of red caught Naruto's attention mid swing and a closer observation showed a large sand gourd. Having finally found his target, Naruto let go of the web he was swing from and allowed himself to fly forward. Thrusting his arms forward, two small tendrils of symbiote shot forward and landed onto a tree branch in front of Gaara.

Gaara became aware of the new presence behind him when the two black lines came from behind and went around him, but wasn't able to act on it as both of Naruto's feet slammed fiercely into his back and sent them free falling over the large branch.

Naruto had easily shot another web like tendril and guided himself to safety. Gaara on the other hand had only broken his fall by crashing onto one of the other large branches from the overgrown trees.

Naruto stiffened when he felt demonic energy burst from Gaara. He watched morbidly as the sand gourd on Gaara's back morphed and began to favor his left side. The claw that had been dragged from the sand orb back in the Chunin exams arena began to show once more as it covered Gaara's left arm. The sand didn't stop there as it began to crawl up the left side of his face until it had covered half of his face. When the metamorphosis was complete, Gaara's face was a split between that of his human face and that of the demon inside of him, a glowing yellow eye with a pointed cross like iris and sharpened teeth filling a malicious grin. But the key feature of Gaara was the blue tribal designs spread across the sand.

"Yes. I and mother have been waiting for you. Let's see which of us can truly proof our EXESTINCE!"

A swing of the sand covered arm released several sand shurikens. Naruto had little trouble jumping over these as he charged towards Gaara, but had received four long gashes across his abdomen from the sand ninja's claw.

Ignoring the wound, Naruto laid a powerful hook across Gaara's face. Hitting the exposed side of Gaara's face had caused Gaara recoiled. Unfortunately Naruto had to jump back as his opponent's claw began flailing at odd and unpredictable motions. Naruto noted how the trees that were hit by Gaara's claw were broken with such little resistance.

Ducking under one of the wild swings, Naruto launched a series of punches and kicks while he was within range. A few attacks that had hit the sand covering Gaara left Naruto's right arms and legs aching. He ignored the pain however as he was forced once more to dodge.

'That sand is too dense. Attacking it does little damage to him and leaves us open when recovering.'

Tired of being stationary, Gaara leapt after Naruto. The blonde for his part changed tactics and used his symbiote tendrils to swing him to a safer spot. Looking back however showed that Gaara was using a similar tactic to chase after him. The odd way the sand claw morphed and grabbed onto tree branches before swinging or pulling Gaara closer to Naruto, thus forcing him to use an evasive maneuver.

Having adjusted to the sand claws attack pattern, Naruto made another attempt to get close and personal. Just as he was with range to land a powerful kick to Gaara's face, he was forced once again to leap to the left as a new sand appendage came from behind Gaara.

After having put a safe distance between himself and Gaara, Naruto looked back to find that the sand had now given Gaara a grotesque sand tail similar to the claw he'd been attacking with.

"Dammit just as we were getting used to the first one." Naruto whispered.

Gaara having seen the agitation on Naruto's face began laughing. "What's wrong Uzumaki? You angry that you and your other aren't capable of beating me!"

Having no choice, Naruto jumped back into the offensive. Flipping, blocking, and attacking whenever he could, Naruto found himself hard pressed. The new sand appendage had given Naruto little chance to attack, but another problem was arising. Naruto was tiring.

The symbiote had taken care of his bruises and had dulled the pain of his body to a small sting. But it could do nothing about his fatigue, and the small rest he had been given had restored little of his stamina.

Right now he still had plenty of chakra, but his stamina was slowly depleting. The idea to use his snakes against Gaara had crossed his mind, but he was unsure if they would be able to wrap around Gaara without them being torn apart. Unlike Orochimaru, he wouldn't carelessly send his summons to their death.

A whistling sound caught both Gaara's and Naruto's ear and both looked towards Gaara's blind side to see Sasuke throwing several kunai and shuriken flying towards the redhead. Gaara simply grunted before raising the sand arm and expanding it to catch the metal projectiles.

Gaara looked between the two leaf nin and contemplated on who to attack first. After a moment, Gaara turned his back on Naruto and laughed as he referred to Sasuke as fresh meat. Naruto for his was thankful for the chance to rest.

"Naruto!"

He spun in response to his name and saw Sakura make her way towards him with a small mutt following behind her.

"Naruto what are you doing fighting against that monster so soon after your fight with Lee?" Sakura asked with clear concern.

Naruto shook his head. "Don't worry about us Sakura; Sasuke is the one you should be worried about."

He was given a confused look. "What do you mean?" Sakura asked. "I'm worried about him, but he hadn't fought as long or nearly as hard as you."

Naruto didn't respond and merely thought over what his response would have been.

'He can't beat him, even if he is more rested. Only reason we felt we could stop him was because we know what he is, understand what he is capable of.'

They watched as Sasuke tried several methods to fight Gaara all of which failed except one move, his chidori. But even that apparently wasn't enough as all he had done to Gaara was cut through the sand claw, only for it to reform seconds later.

'He doesn't have our natural speed or reflexes. His jutsu may harm the parts that Gaara has shielded but he can't get close enough and truly hurt him.'

Naruto stopped his thoughts as he noticed Temari hiding in another tree some ways off. Suddenly getting up Naruto gave a command.

"Stay here Sakura, we'll be right back."

Said girl only nodded as she watched Naruto disappear around the corner of the tree.

* * *

><p>She didn't like hiding in fear. But during times like this, where Gaara had lost himself to his demon's bloodlust, she didn't have any choice but to hide from him. Temari focused fully on the fight between her brother and Sasuke, amazed that Sasuke had managed to wound Gaara twice by now.<p>

She would have been surprised even more had she shown up before Sasuke, but instead she had been given the pleasure of being captured by Naruto instead of watching him fight.

Six black balls flew at her, pushed her back against the tree, and glued her in place. If it were not for the black substance that had covered her mouth she would have screamed, believing that Gaara had noticed her and decided to finally end her life.

Odd how the sight of Naruto made her feel relieved despite the look on his face projecting that this wasn't a joke.

He reached up and ripped the black substance from her mouth. "We're going to ask you only once. Do you know a way to knock Gaara out?"

Temari scrunched her face. She wasn't expecting someone to believe such a thing was possible. "Shouldn't you be asking if there's a way to kill him?"

Her question was instantly rewarded with a hand around her throat. "We could have killed him five times by now." Her eyes widened as his voice carried a tone implicating that he wasn't lying. "Killing him could release the demon inside of him and that's something we want to avoid. So answer the question."

Naruto tightened his grip around Temari before releasing so she could speak.

It took her a second to cough and regain her breathe, but Temari eventually began speaking.

"I don't know. This is the first time I've seen him actually hurt."

Naruto cursed. He didn't detect any lies and seeing as Gaara was a jinchuuriki, he didn't doubt that Gaara was rarely hurt.

He was about to question her further, but the same dark energy he felt back in the forest of death appeared and he turned to see Sasuke and Gaara standing onto two tree branches parallel to each other and facing the opposite direction.

It was obvious that the two had performed some do or die moment and were simply waiting to feel the damage, if any, that were done to them. Gaara's sand arm fell off and Sasuke fell to his knees, covered in the strange flame markings as before.

Gaara was the first to recover and had even replaced his claw though it was now on the opposite arm. He turned around and without hesitating, leapt towards Sasuke in another attempt to end the Uchiha's life.

Naruto would have left Sasuke to his fate, but out of the corner of his eyes he noticed Sakura running in to save Sasuke. While he did not like everything Sakura did he couldn't simply watch her be torn apart either.

The breather he had gotten thanks to Sasuke's interference had helped somewhat and given him some strength back. With a burst of speed he was able to meet Gaara half way and kick him across the face. The demon bond ninja was forced to use his tail to redirect his fall and land upon one of the branches.

"You again!" he snarled, saliva dripping from his lips.

"Us again." Naruto merely stated as he reached over and tore a branch from the tree.

It was a rather large piece of wood easily as thick as his arm and twice as long. At this point Naruto didn't care what it took to take down Gaara, even if that meant beating the boy into a coma.

Gaara used his two sand appendages to hold onto the branch he stood on and pulled himself back in order to launch himself towards Naruto.

The blonde simply waited at the last second before ducking to the side and slamming his wooden club into the back of Gaara's skull. He didn't let it end there either as he leapt after Gaara and proceeded to hit him across the head again and again, causing him to fall back with each fierce blow.

Gaara had finally had enough and morphed once more. Now the sand that covered half of him began to devour the rest and replaced what was left of Gaara's humanity with his demons bloodlust.

Naruto had attempted to club Gaara over the head once more, but the branch in his hands broke, obviously having passed it's limits. Before he could respond to his "weapons" destruction, Naruto found himself grabbed by both of Gaara's claws and felt himself being crushed.

"Mother shall enjoy your death. Now give us your BLOOD!" Gaara yelled.

Naruto struggled to break free from the grip he was ensnared in and only managed to pull one of his arms freed. He didn't know what he could accomplish with his next move, but the thought of being crushed to death without resisting in some form or other wasn't an option. So instead he thrust his balled fist forward and shot of glob of his symbiote at Gaara's face.

The black clad blonde was more than surprised when Gaara released him in favor of trying to rid his face of the black gunk. His shock didn't last long and he leapt back while performing a few hand seals and thrust both fist forward this time.

Just like his fight with Lee, Naruto's sleeves bulged before releasing a torrent of snakes. The black snakes flew towards Gaara and quickly wrapped themselves around the red head, allowing Naruto to swing under the branch his opponent stood on and land upside down.

Once secured and safely planted, Naruto pulled as hard as he could, grunting as he forced more and more of his strength onto his snakes. The symbiote covered snakes hiss as they felt the strain on them increase but didn't break. With the symbiote covering them, they, just as Naruto was, were strengthened by the alien suit.

Gaara finally relented to Naruto's pull and found himself being rocketed down to the forest floor.

Naruto watched Gaara break nearly every branch he came in contact with before finally hitting the forest floor. Once the sand covered nin had finally hit the ground and didn't seem like he was able to get up Naruto let out a tired sigh and prepared to head back to Konoha.

He was quickly stopped however when a scream filled the air.

"THERE'S NO WAY I COULD LOSE, NOT LIKE THIS."

A large tower of sand quickly crawled towards the sky, destroying much in its way. A dust cloud had formed and blocked what the sand had formed.

Landing onto one of the few remaining trees that were closest to him, Naruto laid Temari onto the branch. During his moment of fleeing from the large quantity of sand he noticed Temari still bond to a tree. Some form of guilt rose in him and he raced to free her from her bonds. His kind act had cost him though and part of the sand wave had caught him, leaving several bloodied skid marks all over his body.

Temari was too shocked by his chivalrous act and couldn't offer the thanks he deserved.

His voice broke her out of her stupor and reminded her of the situation they were in. "Any chance you can offer any suggestions, cause this is the worst possible outcome."

Temari shaking followed Naruto's sight and found what she prayed she wouldn't.

The dust cloud had dissipated and in its place was the one tailed sand demon in all its glory.

"You best get out of here. We can't protect you and ourselves." Naruto mentioned before jumping from the tree he was on and ricocheting off various trees as a flood of sand began to give chase to him.

Naruto wasn't stupid, he knew he couldn't outrun the sand forever and decided to send a mental command to his symbiote. The right sleeve of his shirt rippled before crawling up his arm and exposing his skin. On his forearm were various seals, all meant for one thing, summoning.

A digit of his left hand began to bleed thanks to the symbiote cutting him and Naruto proceeded to wipe the blood down his arm and along the tattoo like seal.

Afterwards all he had to do was pump the necessary chakra and a plum of smoke similar to the dust cloud Gaara had created minutes earlier appeared. Gaara had ceased his attack on Naruto, curious in what the blonde had brought forth to even the playing field.

The cloud of smoke dissipated and revealed Naruto standing atop a large sapphire snake. The snake stared at the evenly sized one tailed demon before hissing its protest.

"**It's been ages since I've been summoned. And the first thing I find myself fighting is one of the tailed beast!**"

"Just shut it! You think we want to fight this thing anymore than you do." Naruto bellowed back.

Once more the richly blue snake hissed. "**I had heard we had a new summoner, but I hadn't realized he was one so young.**"

"As if our age has anything to do with our current predicament. Now are you going to help us out here or not?" Naruto responded.

The snake shook its head, forcing Naruto to cling to it with his chakra. "**There is no reason to respond so negatively, I was merely stating an observation of your age. As far as helping you…. I see no problem with it, might as well seeing as I've been summoned."**

"**Interesting.**" Gaara spoke from within his demon. "**Maybe for once, I can unleash my full power.**"

Both the snake and his summoner quit there talk and looked towards the giant sand demon. A small spot in particular gathered their attention as they saw Gaara raising half of his body from it and began forming hand signs.

Naruto stood on edge prepared for an attack to come forth while his summon merely flicked his forked tongue out. Gaara falling asleep wasn't what Naruto expected but he instantly became aware of just how bad that was when the demon's true voice came out.

* * *

><p>Naruto's eyes opened slowly. The visage of a white ceiling confused him and the repetitive beeping off to his side annoyed him. He attempted to sit up but immediately abandoned the idea for the moment when pain wracked his body.<p>

It was then that he remembered the end result from fighting Gaara. Remembered how his summon had helped him fight the giant sand demon Gaara had become and how he finally succeeded in waking Gaara only to knock him to a near unconscious state. Afterwards his summon returned to its home and he proceeded to move towards Gaara.

He could still clearly recall Gaara fearfully screaming about his existence being destroyed along with the fact that Naruto's strength had to come from fighting for himself and the words of advice Naruto had given before passing out. He still didn't understand what had caused him to begin speaking.

'_Do you really think we could have fought you if we were only fighting for ourselves? Gaara it's only because we're fighting for those dear to us that we were able to drag ourselves out here and fight you to this point. We're exhausted and have been since the start of this fight. Anyone fighting for themselves would have passed out long ago in our condition.'_

With his thoughts ending he tried once more to get up. Halfway succeeding before something pushed him back done.

"Geez stay down already. You've been knocked out for the last two days."

Naruto snapped his head towards Anko. Bewildered by both the fact that he hadn't even sensed her and also that she was taking the time to visit him in the hospital.

"A-Anko, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

Anko seemed to take his question as an insult. "What! I can't visit a friend?"

Naruto quickly shook his head and corrected his mistake. "No… of course you can visit us." he replied feeling odd to be referred to as a friend.

Anko chuckled. "Well I guess I have ulterior motives seeing as I don't want to help clean up the mess that invasion caused onto the village."

Naruto began chuckling with her. "Oh man, how much damage was caused?"

"A few buildings flattened, part of the main gate walls knocked down, oh and debris littering the streets." she stated nonchalantly.

Naruto's laugh got even louder. "Oh god! The old man must be buried in paper work!"

Suddenly he found himself laughing alone and the fact wasn't missed on him.

"Anko?"

She didn't say anything and her silence only caused him to panic. "Anko…. what has happened?"

She still didn't answer him. Jumping up and out of his bed as if he wasn't critically injured, Naruto grabbed Anko by her trench coat and lifted her from her seat to bring her face to face.

"Anko tell me now! What the hell has happened!" he screamed to her face.

Part of him knew the answer though the rest of him refused to believe it. Not until he heard it from someone's lips.

* * *

><p><strong>Two days later<strong>

The weather seemed to reflect the mood cast upon the village and released several droplet of water from it's darkened clouds. The funeral held for Sarutobi Hiruzen was visited by all except for Naruto. No Naruto stayed as far away from the gathering as long as the numerous people were gathered around the grave. He refused to let anyone see him grieve.

He was back in his leather jacket and pants and had several bandages wrapped around his face to cover his still recovering injuries.

Once he was sure that all the villagers and ninja alike had left, he made his way towards the grave of one of the few people he had ever truly liked. Once he had arrived there however, Naruto noticed that someone else had shared his plan.

He did nothing to hide his presence and Anko heard him approaching, quickly wiping her tears away before facing him.

Naruto turned around once more respecting her right to grieve alone as much as he did and began to leave.

"Naruto. Thanks but I'm done. You can stay now."

He didn't say a word and merely nodded. He made his way closer and closer to the center of where the funeral was held, trembling being the only sign of his true feelings. Anko watched him for a few minutes before leaving in a gust of leaves.

The second she left, Naruto fell to his knees. His trembling turning into a trimmer and the tears in his eyes began flowing freely down his face. A small book fell from the pocket of his jacket and landed against the muddy ground.

The splash caused by the diary Sarutobi had left him in his will reminded Naruto of the real reason one of his closest and only friends had been taken from him and the world. Naruto shook once more except this time it was out of hate and anger.

The dairy Sarutobi had left him was full of secrets about Konoha and his decisions he made in life. Sarutobi's gift to Naruto was all of Konoha and his secrets, it was easy for Naruto to see the trust he was given in recieving this gift.

Naruto had spent the last two days reading over the book, as it was the only thing he could do to take his mind off of his despair. But now his despair was being replaced by rage. Rage at the fact that Sarutobi's decision to spare Orochimaru had been repaid by the very student to return and cause his demise.

He picked up the book with shaking fingers and pocketed it back into his jacket before walking closer to the grave. Looking at the picture of the person he had so fondly called old man didn't help quail his rage.

A metaphoric string in Naruto seemed to snap and he released his rage in the form of a roar only stopping once he no longer had air to use.

"Orochimaru we will make you pay…. no not just you! All missing nin! We shall become the poison to your traitorous ways! We will become **VENOM!**"

* * *

><p>Author's note: Ok before anyone get angry. Sorry for cutting out the giant monster fight, but I didn't want to type out a fight that would basically be the same as cannon. That aside I hoped you enjoyed the chapter.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8:Hunting a Defector

Along Came a Symbiote

Author Note: Alright the first thing I need to do is apologize for the long period where I haven't updated this story. Let's just say that in short, life has been kicking my ass. I'm better of than some people but lets face it, an ass kicking is an ass kicking. On a side note my luck is turning around. I entered a Soul Calibur 5 Tournament hosted by the gamestop I live near, expected to lose first round and ended up in third place out of 26 people.

Last chapter got some interesting reviews so I'm going to start placing response to reviews at the end of my author notes in order to answer some questions.

**BlackRevenant: **I think you're confusing Naruto's personality between him inside and outside of battle. Inside he acts like a ninja should. Puts aside his feelings, analyze the situation, and take advantage of enemy's weak points. Outside, he jokes, laughs, and generally enjoys himself.

**Gohan90: **It makes no sense for Naruto to have the snake summons. Well Jiraiya summoned a toad that held the contract, why can't Anko do the same with her summons. Aside from that how was Naruto supposed to get the spider summoning contract? A random summon take interest in Naruto, one of the most over used clichés used in Naruto fan fiction. Not happening.

**Juopunumies: **The problem with that is that I generally liked what happened in the first part of Naruto. It's shippuden that I dislike.

**Junky: **The nine tails fox isn't gone for good, but Naruto won't be using its power. I think there are too many stories where Naruto goes god mode with the nine tails fox's power. It will make an appearance later on.

**Dregus: **The name Venom will serve a purpose later on. I know many enjoyed the fact that the symbiote was a clean slate, but to be fair I've been hinting towards this for a while.

**LycanRed: **Thanks, I really mean it. Several have written symbiote Naruto's and your right they do overpower him. It's this reason that I decided to write this story despite the fact that it's been done before.

Alright now onto the chapter.

Chapter 8: Hunting a Defector

* * *

><p>It had been nearly three weeks since Orochimaru's invasion, and Naruto was finding himself with one problem after another. After his grief had dulled, it had occurred to him that he had not seen Haku since the exams. He had tried visiting the mental health ward of the hospital but found that the room Haku had previously occupied was empty. And checking with the front desk clerk showed that he wasn't listed anywhere within the hospital itself.<p>

After searching through the village for several days, Naruto concluded that Haku had used the invasion as a way to escape the village. He felt bad that Haku had left but understood that if Haku did not truly want help then there was nothing more he could do.

Shortly afterwards a tall white haired pervert by the name of Jiraiya had dragged him off to find a new Hokage. This had been a large annoyance to Naruto and had found himself becoming angry when he discovered who would be replacing Hiruzen as Hokage and the spite she carried for her old home land.

But that was in the past, and right now Naruto was relaxing on a tree limb while Anko was sitting on a park bench down bellow enjoying some dango. Naruto began telling Anko about his trip to find Tsunade in order to pass the time and also to make her laugh at how he had troubled Orochimaru during the fight between the Sannin.

"We don't really see what's so great about the Sannin that would garner the respect most ninja give them. After we found Tsunade, days later Jiraiya had a sedative slipped into his drink by Tsunade while she cowered in fear covered in blood that wasn't even her own. Then there is Orochimaru who runs away at every opportunity."

Anko picked up a cup and took a sip of her drink before speaking. "When they were together they made an unbeatable team that had helped us greatly back in the third ninja world war. Add to the fact that they all have contracts with different summons and are some of the Leaf's most powerful ninja, there's where their respect is earned."

Naruto shook his head. "We still would believe that their personality quirks would cause some lost in respect."

Anko began laughing. Naruto had a point there. With Tsunade drinking constantly and an addiction to gambling, Jiraiya being a peeping tom pervert, and Orochimaru being a traitor to Konoha, one would think that the amount of respect they were given would have diminished.

"Well enough about them, let's get back to what happened during the trip. Now where did we leave off?" Naruto said as he began to think.

"You were fighting Kabuto." Anko pointed out.

Naruto gave a feral grin. "Oh yeah, that's right."

* * *

><p><strong>One week ago<strong>

A grass field some distance from Tanzaku town marked the fight between Orochimaru, Tsunade, and their assistants. Naruto and Jiraiya had arrived in time to turn the tide, but with Jiraiya still suffering from the sedative he had been slipped and Shizune tending to the fear paralyzed Tsunade, the fight had simply been brought back to a stalemate.

Naruto was pushing his limits to keep even with Kabuto. The purple clad spy was proving that he was far stronger than a Genin. He had years of experience against him and was clever as well. Using his chakra scalpel, he was able to sever ligaments and muscle tissue needed in order move limbs. But Naruto wasn't simply standing by and allowing Kabuto to cripple him as he fought back by aiming bone shatter attacks towards Kabuto's joints and vital organs.

The problem the two were running into is that they couldn't kill the other fast enough before they recovered. Kabuto thanks to his self healing jutsu and Naruto thanks to the symbiote repairing the damage done to him.

Shizune had finally wiped off enough blood for Tsunade to fight and Orochimaru noticing this called Kabuto back to him.

It soon became apparent to Naruto what was going to happen when he saw both Tsunade and Jiraiya bite the tip of their thumbs. He quickly pulled up his sleeve to reveal his summoning tattoo and swiped blood along it, acting with the urgency that came with the concept of a race against time.

Four giant clouds of smoke appeared and slowly dissipated. Jiraiya appeared on top of a large red toad wearing a blue vest. Tsunade appeared on top of a giant white slug with a light blue stripe running down its back. Orochimaru stood atop a Bronx colored snake, gawking at the snake below him before turning a rage filled glare to Kabuto.

"You were supposed to summon Manda!"

Kabuto looked down at the snake he and Orochimaru were on in disbelief.

"What's going on? I know for a fact that I had used enough chakra to summon the snake boss."

The three Sannins turned their attention to where the final cloud of smoke had been and had found where the infamous strongest colossal serpent was located under Naruto.

Naruto let out a roaring laugh in success of having summoned Manda before Orochimaru and Kabuto.

The large snake below him finally let its displeasure be known. "**Who are you and what makes you believe that I would serve YOU?"**

"We are Naruto. And we don't expect you to serve no one. As far as we are concerned you could just go bake on the grass."

Manda's response was instant. "**Then why have I been summoned!"**

"Because we want you out of Orochimaru's use." Naruto stated proudly.

A few seconds passed as Manda allowed what he had been told to sink in. The Sannins and their summons had begun their fight long ago.

"**You're not apart of Orochimaru's group?**" Manda asked as he initially believed that he had been summoned to aid Orochimaru against his former teammates.

"No, we summoned you so that you couldn't fight alongside him. As long as we have you summoned, he can't."

The colossal snake began chuckling; the chuckling soon turned into a snicker and eventually grew into a boisterous laughter.

"**The snake charmer himself is out summoned by a child three times younger than himself. You realize that he will make you pay for this."**

Naruto's face instantly turned to a hate filled scowl. "Then we welcome his anger, for we are only starting to be a thorn in his side!"

Manda sensed the hate within Naruto's voice and the sides of his jaw creased up in a mimic of a devilish smile.

"**Hmmm It seems like there is conflict amongst the snake summoners.**" the malevolence in his voice grew. "**Very well, I accept you as one of our summoners, but I cannot assist you in your fight against Orochimaru or any other being that has a contract with us snakes, no matter how much I'd like to devour his cowardly hide.** "

* * *

><p>"Afterwards Tsunade and Jiraiya had driven Orochimaru away and we began heading back to Konoha." Naruto said while Anko was still laughing.<p>

Apparently she took as much joy in Naruto screwing over Orochimaru as Manda did.

'We love the way she laughs.' His eyes widened as he questioned the choice in words he used in his thought. He shook his head and passed his word choice off as a mere misuse of expression.

Suddenly an Anbu dropped down and appeared before the two. Anko quickly whipped the tears out of her eyes before addressing the masked nin.  
>"How may I help you?"<p>

"Actually I'm here in order to inform Naruto Uzumaki that the Hokage wants him at her office immediately." the Anbu said before disappearing.

Naruto shook his head. "Sorry Anko, but the old bitch has summoned me."

Anko let out a sigh. "You know, you should really show her more respect."

"If you had seen what we saw Anko, you wouldn't be able to respect her either." He said before heading off towards the Hokage tower.

* * *

><p>New Hokage or not, Naruto wasn't going to change his routine of entering the Hokage office. So he once again began crawling his way towards the window. Entering through the window had caused Tsunade to send a glare.<p>

"You sure you're not Jiraiya's student?" she asked.

Naruto ignored the question and made his way towards the front of the desk. "You summoned us….Hokage. He said while forcing the word Hokage.

Naruto understood that Konoha needed a leader and a strong one at that, but he couldn't accept anyone else as the Hokage, not so soon after Hiruzen's demise. The thought of the old man caused the mask on his face to reflect a somber look and he unconsciously gripped the diary located in the inner pocket of his jacket.

"I summoned you here because of a last request written in my deceased sensei's will. He asked that the next Hokage promote a single Genin in the case that he himself was unable to. I don't believe I'll need to mention who that Genin is."

A smile grew on Naruto's face and he nodded to show she was right.

"I'll be honest. After reading the reports concerning the Chunin exams and the notes left by the examiners, I don't feel that you are deserving of a promotion. But the Third had written down on his will several skills and qualities that he felt qualified you to be a Chunin."

Before the new Hokage could continue, a knock on the door was heard.

"Lady Hokage, I've returned with that package you sent me to retrieve." the voice belonging to Shizune explained.

"Come in Shizune." said Tsunade.

The door opened slightly and Shizune walked through and handed over a green scroll to Tsunade. Naruto tried to catch any signs on the scroll that would indicate its purpose, but was distracted from his observation when Tsunade began speaking again.

"He really liked you, you know that." she stated. "My sensei hasn't always done the right thing, but he always meant the best…. And so I'll follow his wishes."

Tsunade unrolled the scroll in her hands and revealed a storage seal. Pumping chakra through it caused a plum of smoke to appear and dissipate shortly afterwards. After the smoke was gone a single custom made Chunin vest was visible. Instead of being green, the vest was midnight black and even had an exact copy of Naruto's spider emblem stitched into it.

Seeing that his attention was glued onto the vest, Tsunade decided to regain his attention. "He paid for this to be custom made out of his own pocket instead of simply giving you one of the mass produced vests. It's rare that a ninja is given such a thing. Cherish it and congratulations on becoming a Chunin, Naruto Uzumaki." she said before handing him the vest along with the scroll that contained the documents of his promotion.

"Thank you." he said in a near whisper before taking the items from her.

He quickly replaced his jacket with the Chunin vest, zipping up the front to keep it closed unlike how he wore his jacket. Afterwards he placed the scroll snug into one of the many pockets in the vest before slinging his jacket over his shoulder.

"You're dismissed Uzumaki." Tsunade stated before preparing to sign a few papers.

Naruto simply nodded and headed out the window.

Tsunade simply shook her head. "At least he closes the window when he leaves."

* * *

><p><strong>Two weeks later<strong>

Sakura was becoming worried about her team. Ever since the invasion, nothing seemed the same. Naruto had changed, he had stayed mute to them and had completely ignored Sasuke. Originally she believed that it was this simple change that had caused the negative feeling that seemed to float around whenever she was with her team.

But as time passed, Naruto began to seem more like his old self. But Sasuke started to become angrier and distant. It had all started when Naruto had shown up wearing a Chunin vest and Kakashi had verified that Naruto had indeed been promoted along with Shikamaru.

Sasuke had acted like he didn't care about it, but she could tell it had bothered him. Sakura had tried to reason with him that the invasion had prevented Sasuke from showing his full capabilities in front of the judges. Unfortunately this had only seemed to insult the Uchiha and he had snapped at her, telling her not to patronize him.

It only got worse as Naruto continue to ignore Sasuke's presence. Before where Naruto would make an insulting comment, Sasuke had shown irritation and responded with an insult of his own. But now he felt that Naruto considered him as little more than a stray dog on the road. This idea had been cemented further by the fact that Sasuke had challenged Naruto to a fight, trying to antagonize Naruto with various belittling comments.

But Naruto had passed by Sasuke without even a glance back or a word to show he even heard him. It had been a shot to his pride that had left him furious. Sakura feared that Sasuke would have attacked Naruto while his back was turned if their sensei had not been present.

She had gone to Kakashi time and time again trying to find some way to repair the damage that had occurred in the teams ability to work together, but the lazy nin had simply stated that things would settle down and that the two were simply bothered by events during the invasion.

Her sensei's words didn't help her feel any better. And while the team she had been assigned to could hardly be called that it was still her team, and she didn't want to see it break apart.

So here she was, walking towards Naruto's house during the late hours of the night. She was hoping to talk with Naruto and convince him to at least acknowledge her and Sasuke's presence. And that's when she saw him. He stood alone, facing away from her and silent. The look on his face told her that he had just made a decision, one she felt she would be uncomfortable with.

"Sasuke?" she asked, unsure if it was truly him.

He turned to her in response.

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Day<strong>

Black boots kicked off the ground as Naruto pushed his limits in speed as he pursued the group of sound nin and his teammate. It had been odd waking up to the sound of someone banging on his door. Being jerked from his sleep had put him in a foul mood and the only thing that had stopped him from tearing the person knocking on his door a new asshole was the recognition of Sakura's panicked voice begging him to be home.

It only took her mere seconds to explain between sobs about Sasuke's defection and even less time for Naruto to disappear to his room long enough for his symbiote to form his leather jacket, pants, as well as his spider marked shirt and teeth imprinted mask.

_Naruto you have to stop him, but please, I'm begging you, don't kill him._

The thought echoed through his mind just as he caught sight of his target.

* * *

><p><strong>Later that day<strong>

"This is just too damn troublesome. Why is Sasuke attempting leave us for Oto?" said Shikamaru running through the forest while being followed by the team Tsunade had him form.

The team had been constructed for the sole purpose of tracking Sasuke Uchiha down before he reached the border of Oto. Shikamaru looked back to look over his unit. He had Kiba there as a tracker and Neji so they weren't ambushed. The beauty of this was that Neji and Kiba could work in junction and prove without a doubt where Sasuke was. Then he had Choji with him as, well he just preferred him as a partner. They worked on the same team and trusted each other better than they would others.

There had only been one person that he had wanted on the team but couldn't find.

'Dammit… I wish Sakura would have gone to Tsunade first about Sasuke instead of Naruto. Well at least she had gotten him to promise not to kill the traitor.'

"Shikamaru, there is something up ahead. Looks like a corpse." Neji stated.

Having been warned, Shikamaru gave a sign for them to slow down. Once they arrived at the edge the clearing Shikamaru waited till Kiba and Neji gave the affirmative that no one else was around.

Walking up to the corpse Shikamaru noticed that the orange haired, large built corpse wore a sound head band. Several purple splotches covered his body and blood dripped from his mouth as a thick stain.

Neji activated his Byakugan for a closer inspection. "His skeleton is a mess. Just about all his bones are broken or fractured. Death was most likely internal bleeding but a hard hit to the heart could have caused it to stop as well."

"Geez who could have done this to him and why?" Kiba asked.

"Troublesome. The only person I can think that has this brutality and strength is Naruto, at least on our side. We should move on. Chances are Naruto is still chasing after Sasuke and apparently he has back up as well." Shikamaru said while pointing at the deceased Oto nin.

* * *

><p>Naruto leapt upward off the tree branch he stood on and grasped another in time to angle his body out of the way of the bronze like boomerangs thrown at him. Once onto the new branch, Naruto redirected his gaze back towards the sound nin that stood before him. He wore garbs that had matched his previous opponent and had six arms instead of the natural two other humans had. Oddly enough the man looked similar in appearance to Iruka and even held his hair back in a high pony tail.<p>

The man snarled from having missed the black clad spider nin once more. "Stop jumping around and just die already."

Naruto jumped behind a tree and instantly camouflaged himself; forming the mask he had used after the Chunin exams to insure total invisibility.

He let out a dark chuckle while stealthily moving closer to the sound nin. "We would have thought that you would be enjoying yourself. It's not everyday that you would be able to fight a fellow spider." he said while making sure to throw his voice in order to hide his position.

The six armed man scanned the area before jumping into some foliage for cover.

Naruto, who had witnessed the act, had to stifle his laughter. 'The fool believes that he is hidden from us. A poor assumption.' He thought before joining the Oto nin.

The sound of the leaves shuffling were his only clue that he had been found before a black covered fist had collided with his face. Naruto had aimed his punch so the Oto nin would be sent falling down where no tree limbs would break his fall.

'He'll either hit the ground hard enough to break every bone in his body or use a large amount of chakra to save himself. Either way this fight gets easier for me.'

A thick string of webbing had been shot out of the Oto nin's arms only for Naruto to swing by on his own black thread and rip them apart. Having lost his safety lines and seeing Naruto sitting by, preparing to repeat his last action, the Oto nin bit his finger before performing three hand seals.

Naruto watched as a thick cloud of smoke formed around his opponent and his eyes widened when he saw a large black spider with the Oto nin on top. The spider seemed to be a tarantula by the hair on its body and the thickness of its legs compared to the rest of its body. Two thick orange lines ran down all three parts of its body.

Naruto camouflaged himself once more before moving to a new position. Instead of moving towards the Oto nin, he moved a bit further away and behind a group of people waiting in ambush.

"They went that way." Naruto stated while pointing.

Shikamaru and the others instantly turned around.

Neji was the first to speak. "Are you certain?"

Naruto moved his pointed finger into a new direction. "That tree is marked to point out the direction. Before our fight with this guy started, We broke a tree limb pointing in the direction the Oto nin went and covered it with our webbing. "

"He's telling the truth." Neji confirmed.

Shikamaru nodded his head. "Good, then after we finish this guy off we'll continue the chase."

"Not necessary." Naruto objected. He waited till the rest of them had his attention. "We alone can handle him while you continue to chase after Sasuke. We don't know for certain how fast they can travel and if they get too much distance we'll never catch them before they cross the border."

He saw that Neji was about to object. "We've been fighting him ok on our own. There are still two Oto nin escorting Sasuke. If you can catch up with them you'll have them out numbered but if you stay here and fight with us that chance will be smaller and smaller."

He could see that none of them liked the idea and Shikamaru cemented this with his next statement.

"We out number this guy five to one. If you've been doing so well against him on your own then we can quickly finish this up and head out."

Naruto shook his head. "He's too cunning for numbers to work against him. Even if we did attack him all at once he would simply target the slowest of us and take that person hostage. Even if we did manage to free the hostage we'll be too busy trying to cover each other to fight him effectively. And besides, he's a coward but a smart coward. Even now he is setting up traps and setting the stage to his advantage instead of chasing me."

Neji activated his Byakugan. "He's right. The area is covered in chakra."

"Troublesome… Fine we'll do it your way." Shikamaru said before ordering the others to follow him.

Naruto nodded before making his way back towards the Oto nin. It wasn't hard to find him or to be more specific, the battleground he prepared.

The area was covered in webs from the forest floor to the canopy. The large spider had positioned itself above, hanging from one of the new formed webs while baby versions of it descended and crawled around their new territory. The Oto nin was not within sight as far as Naruto or his symbiote could see.

"Done chatting with your friends!" echoed the nin's voice.

Naruto chuckled. "So you knew."

"Of course I knew! You haven't retreated once during this fight! Why else would you do so now?"

He knew there was more to it but that, but Naruto didn't persist and instead veered towards another topic. "So you've set the stage."

"One fitting for our kind!"

Naruto's booming laughter had caused many of the spiders to stop their movement. "Our kind? You're sadly mistaken if you believe to be one of us! You lack the bite!"

The once calm voice turned heated after that remark. "We'll see who lacks bite once you're left paralyzed and fed upon! This game is over!"

* * *

><p><strong>Back in Konoha, Interrogation Department <strong>

Due to her occupation as an interrogator, Anko Mitarashi had been one of the few people to be warned about Sasuke's defection or his current attempt at defecting. She was looking forward to interrogating the over privileged snot.

Then again she didn't know if there would be anything left to interrogate thanks to the fact that Sakura ran to Naruto first about Sasuke. She still didn't know if that was a stupid decision or smart one. On one hand Naruto was the closest Chunin, knew the target well, and would help reduce how much of a head start Sasuke got from the village.

But then again everyone knew that Naruto was looking for the first chance to kill Sasuke and get away with it, becoming a defecting nin did just that. If Naruto did kill Sasuke, there would be absolutely nothing that the council or the Hokage for that matter could do about it. Even if they did attempt to punish him there would be several fellow Chunin and Jonin that would support his action and speak up for him.

"I wonder if he'll really keep his promise to Sakura." she said aloud.

Ibiki gave his co-worker a curious glance. "What are you mumbling about?"

A few of the other nins nearby perked up and listened in.

Anko chuckled. "You guys know about the Uchiha brat going rouge last night?"

Several nodded or gave a verbal confirmation to show that they did hear about it.

"Well a team had been formed by the Hokage and sent out a couple of hours ago to retrieve our wayward Uchiha…. But before that the one to discover our new missing nin was his teammate Sakura Haruno and she had gone to her other teammate's house and begged him to chase after and bring the Uchiha back. The name of this team mate is…." She paused for suspense. "Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Psssh the Uchihas' fucked!" said one of the nearby nins.

Ibiki nodded his head in agreement.

Anko decided to fill them in on her earlier remark. "I would normally agree …. but Sakura had Naruto promise not to kill him so I'm not so sure if Naruto will keep his promise or not."

"Come ooonnnnnnn. This is a no brainer. The Uzumaki has been using the Uchiha as his anger management crutch since their early years in the academy. Now that the Uchiha has gone and become legitimate rouge, there is nothing stopping Uzumaki from murdering the guy." Another nin stated.

Ibiki decided to cut in. "I don't know. Naruto has shown loyalty to his village and team mates. He had a good chance to kill Sasuke during their A rank mission in Wave. Or at the very least allow the Uchiha to die by the hands of that ice user he brought back."

"Yeah that's true." Anko stated.

The nin from before scoffed. "THE only reason Uzumaki didn't drown the Uchiha in a nearby lake during that mission was because it could still have gotten him in trouble."

The other nin began murmuring with each other on the possibility of the Uchiha dying today.

"All right if you're so confident then why don't you put your money where your mouth is!"

Everyone's attention turned to Ibiki and the wallet he held up. "Sixty dollars says Naruto brings Sasuke back…. alive." he said before pulling out the mentioned amount and placing it on a nearby table.

Anko broke out into feral grin. "I'll add to that. Eighty on Naruto returning with the Uchiha alive." she added onto the table."

The nin from before didn't seem fazed. "Alright… Sixty on the Uzumaki returning with the Uchiha as a bloody corpse."

The other nins began making their own bets and Anko grabbed one of the random clip boards lying around. Ripping off the current page and began scribbling down the bets on the fresh page.

'Come on Naruto! This could be an easy twelve servings of dango!'

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Naruto<strong>

He had taken care of the miniature spiders, dodged the onslaught of trap triggered kunai that the spider Oto nin kept unleashing, and even succeeded in killing the enormous spider that continued to spawn the miniatures. So how is it that he found himself stuck on a large tree branch, his arms being pulled back by all six arms of the spider Oto nin, and whom had transformed into a demon incarnate like the previous Oto nin?

The man had transformed into a red demon with a third eye. His build had slightly increased and his hair had turned grey and doubled in size.

Pushing his foot down onto the spine of the half kneeled symbiote bonded nin, the Oto nin's grin broadened as he heard Naruto's pain filled grunt.

'We were careless. Should have never allowed ourselves to be lured towards the spot he was shooting from.'

Naruto closed his eyes as he focused, not that his opponent could see this past the mask he wore. Slowly Naruto began putting more and more effort into bending his arms forward. The Oto nin's smile faded as the tide was turning at a painfully slow but definite pace. The muscle of his biceps, triceps, and forearm bulged while his entire upper body violently trembled.

* * *

><p>Kidomaru couldn't believe this fight had lasted this long. It was bad enough that one of Konoha's nins had pushed him so far but a kid at that. He thought for sure that once he entered his second cursed seal form that things would have been settled. Creating his bow and readying his arrow, he had been prepared to finish the little spider look alike…. but black clad nin had disappeared once more and he didn't know where the kid was till he got within a few feet of him. It had been sheer luck that he had lured the Leaf nin to one of his sniper spots before ambushing him.<p>

The struggle would have been over in a minute had it not been for the freakish strength the boy possessed. He wouldn't have been able to hold onto the nin had it not been for his additional arms.

'How the hell does he still have more strength!' he couldn't help but shout in his head.

Having felt that enough was enough; Kidomaru gathered chakra in his mouth and used it to form an arrow in his mouth. It slid out a ways before stopping. He knew he wouldn't be able to jam it into the nin with just his mouth.

The black goo as he began to think of it that covered the Leaf nin was similar to leather and wouldn't be penetrated easily. So instead he readied himself to remove one of his hands from the arms they held to jam his weapon into the skull of his enemy.

'Alright. One, two, three, NOW!'

* * *

><p>Kidomaru's plan proved to be a mistake for as soon as his one of his left hands removed themselves, Naruto put his full body weight on his left side. This had resulted in Naruto lurching forward with his left shoulder and dragging Kidomaru with him. Just as it seemed like they would both fall over, Naruto jerked back, smashing his head into Kidomaru's bottom jaw.<p>

The sound of metal breaking followed by a guttering scream resounded through the forest. Naruto didn't care about this as he shot a thread of web and swung himself to another tree. As he landed against the bark, he turned back to face Kidomaru but found the man no longer there.

He kept his back to the tree as he thoroughly scanned the forest for any sign of his enemy.

'Can't let him get the drop on us again.' Naruto thought as he slowly blended in with his surroundings.

Just as he finished applying his camoulfage, he heard the sound similar to a whistle. Eyes widened as he recognized the sound far too easily and leapt from the tree. A gold arrow tore through the spot he once occupied, leaving a gnarled hole.

'So he's gone back to using his bow. Better move slowly. Don't know how but he can spot us with that third eye open when we move too fast.'

Naruto was careful to move from tree to tree without disturbing the leaves too much. Several problems were occurring as he searched for Kidomaru. The main problem revolved around the fact that he didn't know where exactly the man was hiding. They were both searching for each other. Both keeping a keen eye constantly observing their surroundings.

Naruto's eyes snapped onto a few leaves that floated slowly to the forest floor. Though this was a sign that Kidomaru was getting either sloppy or impatient, Naruto didn't smile. Last time he had jumped at the chance to take out Kidomaru and it had nearly cost him his life. Now though he would take his time and insure that victory was his before attempting to claim it.

He stayed at what he considered was a safe distance away while moving to a better spot to view the location where the leaves feel from. He stopped once he found Kidomaru and understood how the leaves fell. Kidomaru was suspended midair by five white threads that extended from his hands and attached themselves to various tree limbs. This allowed him easier maneuverability as all he needed to do was let go of one web and form another one to pull himself to another direction. Oddly he had his bow stabled by his hand while he used his mouth and feet to pull the string of the bow back.

Naruto was confident in his ability to sneak up on Kidomaru and kill him in one swift move… Unfortunately if the slightest thing went wrong as he went for the kill, accidently rustling leaves, the bark beneath him giving out, or even Kidomaru's paranoia going off. Then it would take even longer for him to locate him again or worse Kidomaru put an arrow through his heart.

A planned formed in his head and he formed a single hand seal. It wasn't an extravagant plan or even brilliant.

'But it will do.' he thought as a mud clone formed next to him.

Without a single word the clone began moving else where but out of Kidomaru's sight. Naruto on the other hand moving higher though closer to Kidomaru's location. Once he was on the branch several feet above his enemy he stopped and positioned himself upside down and on the lower part of it.

Naruto propelled himself forward the second Kidomaru shot his clone. He intended to simply pounce on the man and snap his neck, a simple plan but as he thought early, it will do. To Naruto's annoyance, Kidomaru's shock didn't last long and he immediately checked his blind spots. His initial two eyes were unable to spot Naruto from above, but he the third demonic eye caught a mere glance of him. Unfortunately this mere glance caused the other two eyes to focus directly onto Naruto.

Kidomaru quickly aimed his bow and formed another arrow in his mouth. Naruto on the other hand quickly thrust his fist forward, sending two globs of his symbiote forward. Having succeeded in blinding his opponent, Naruto smiled though this didn't last long as a searing pain erupted from his left shoulder blade. The hanging spider nins aim had been thrown off thanks to the gunk blocking his vision but not by much.

So instead of bleeding to death from his heart, Naruto found himself with blood dripping down his now limp useless arm. He looked back at Kidomaru to find the man still suspended by his threads of web and quickly reformed his plan. Instead of grabbing his enemy's neck and snapping it, Naruto instead angled himself so that his right arm hooked around Kidomaru's neck. The spider threads were unable to support both of their weight and quickly snapped, sending the two to plummet towards the forest floor. Much like his threads, Kidomaru's neck snapped as soon as they came in contact with one of the many tree branches.

Naruto slowly peeled himself from the bark having unfortunately received little cushion from the Oto nins body. Looking towards his diseased enemy, Naruto was proud to have found the man reverting to his human form only this time his neck hung loose at an odd angle.

* * *

><p><strong>Nearly an hour later<strong>

After his fight Naruto had located his marked tree and continued the hunt. There was nothing more that he could do about the whole in his shoulder than to have his symbiote fill it, hopefully clotting it long enough for the flesh to heal. His left arm was still useless which prevented him from web swinging through the forest.

As he went, he discovered the others off in their own fight. He chose not to help them due the fact that the sand siblings from Suna were present and even helping them. Naruto wouldn't question it for now, it wasn't important and he was more interested in catching up with Sasuke.

Naruto's sudden stop would have confused any that witnessed it. But his eyes saw clear signs of a fight that had recently happened. Slashes against trees, scorch marches, and obviously used kunai and shurikens. Strangely enough, the signs of battle lead off to the edge of the forest. Following the now man made path, Naruto found himself walking towards two large statues of the first Hokage and Madara Uchiha. Neither the two statues nor the beautiful water fall between them kept Naruto's attention as his eyes instantly darted to the bloody body at the bottom of the statues. He quickly scaled down the cliffs as quickly as possible.

Caution had been thrown to the wind as it was obvious that he had just missed the fight. Once down, Naruto easily identified the body as Neji's due to the long brown hair, pearl like eyes, and beige clothes. Blood dripped from the sides of his mouth and a deep, wide hole located right over his left lung bleed at a steady rate. It was obvious that Neji had attempted to apply pressure to his wound and prevent himself from bleeding to death. Naruto shook his head, not delusional enough to believe that Neji would live.

"You …. You just missed him." Neji suddenly said.

Naruto nodded, but said nothing.

Neji took this as a sign to continue, and at least make his last words worth while.

"I c-caught up with him … a ways back…. Our fight ev-e-eventually lead here... Afterwards…. he transformed… into t-this demon." He took a long drawn out breath in hope of steadying his voice. "Couldn't stop him." he simply said "He's already crossed the border."

…..

…..

…..

"It seems l-like I can't continue to fight fate any-anymore."

Those words caused Naruto's eyes to widen.

"Heh-haha. Just as I start to fight…. this happens."

At this point Naruto felt the need to say something, anything, so long as the Hyuga didn't pass away in silence. "Is there anything you would like us to tell your team?"

* * *

><p><strong>Three weeks later<strong>

'Three weeks… has it only really been three weeks?'

The thought was one that had repeatedly entered Naruto's head today as he went about packing supplies for the three year training trip.

'Three weeks.' the thought repeated.

It had been three weeks since the failed retrieval mission and since Neji's death. Oddly enough it wasn't Neji's death that bothered him, but Neji's last words to his teammates.

"_Tell them….I'm sorry"_

He was dying and he was sorry. Naruto just couldn't understand it. Telling the Hyuga's sensei and teammates went as expected. The flames of youth duo cried waterfalls and Tenten excused herself, obviously to go where her grieve could not be seen. After reporting with Shikamaru to the Hokage, both were reprimanded for not only the failure of the mission but the death of Neji Hyuga.

No punishments were given, but Naruto felt like he had been punished. As soon as their reports were over, Tsunade informed Naruto that he would be taking a three year training trip with Jiraiya. He had tried to fight it, bitch about it, and even threaten. Nothing deadly, just promises to annoy her to the point of insanity. In the end Naruto solved nothing and he ended up preparing for the trip.

Closing the door to his house, he began making his way to the village gate. As he walked, Naruto double checked that he had everything taken care of before was outside of the village.

'Bought clothes so Jiraiya doesn't become suspicious, gave Anko and Sakura a key to our apartment, asked Shino to go by and get rid of the bugs that decide to make our home theirs… anything else?'

Naruto had given keys to Sakura and Anko to insure that his apartment could be dusted while he was away, and the only people he could think of that he could trust, other than Shino, were the only women he kept in contact with on a daily basis.

Speaking of the Pink haired team member, Naruto had been surprised by the lack of sadness or anger she showed when he informed her that the mission was a failure. Instead there was a burning resolve.

Anko had been another story. Naruto couldn't get much out of her other than dissapoint in the loss of free dango. He made sure to inform her of his trip at the very least and was some what pleased that she didn't find the idea all that appealing.

Naruto chuckled when he thought back to his last conversation with Shino. The look on the bug users face had been priceless after he had recieved his answer as to why he wasn't given a spare key to Naruto house. Then again Shino's reaction to being told that the reason he didn't recieve a key was due to fact that Naruto thought he could pick the lock with his bugs was understandable. The fact that Naruto was right was beside the point.

"Hey brat good to see your other sensei's sense of punctuality hasn't rubbed off on you." Jiraiya said all too familiarly as far as Naruto was concerned.

"Let's just get this over with." said Naruto as he walked past Jiraiya.

'Get this over? How the hell are we just suppose to get over three years.' Jiraiya thought.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter wasn't all that good. And originally I was going to hold back the time skip till next chapter in order to make a chapter for the filler missions, but decided that I just wanted to get onto the shippuden part. On a side note, Manda's title is a freaken mouth full.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9:Back Home and Stronger

**Along Came a Symbiote**

**Author's Note: **Alright before I begin I just want to touch up on a few things. Last chapter I got a few compliants about the chapter, though I told people in my A/N that the chapter was going to suck. Never lied, didn't say the chapter was going to be amazing but did inform you that for various reasons the chapter would feel rushed or incomplete. And as someone pointed out "it felt like you didn't want to write the chapter". Well I didn't and not because I've grown bored with this story but because I didn't want to write out the Sasuke retrieval arc. I really just wanted to skip the segment and move onto Shippuden but if I did that than even more people would have been pissed. So i wrote the chapter choosing to tick off fewer readers.

Moving on. This chapter will be far better than last. Not because I actually enjoyed writing it but because There were more relevant events that went along with this chapter. Last chapter was just about Sasuke's defection and much like the fight against Zabuza, most of us have read the damn event over, and over, and over again to the point that we have it memorized word for word no matter who wrote it. This chapter is about Naruto's return, what all he learned during the three or so years, and the changes that have been made in Naruto himself.

So with that out of the way, please enjoy this next chapter.

**Chapter 9: Back Home and Stronger**

* * *

><p><strong>KonohaHokage's office**

It had been roughly over three and a half years since Naruto and Jiraiya went on their training trip and a little more than that since she had taken the mantle of Hokage.

Tsunade still disliked the position and wished that there was a way out of it. Unfortunately if she hadn't taken the position then Danzo would have become Hokage and then would have been able to run the village as he saw fit. Before having run into Jiraiya and Naruto in Tanzaku town, she wouldn't have cared what had happened to Konoha, but somehow Konoha's spider nin had infected her with his feverish loyalty. **(1)**

Now that she thought about them, she remembered that it was taking longer than she thought for them to return. She had been expecting them back two weeks ago, but they hadn't arrived yet nor were there a letter sent explaining where they were. Just then a hand opened the window behind her.

"You know I was just thinking about you." she said to Jiraiya as he finished entering via the window. Seeing the lecherous grin on his face let her know that she needed to add more to her previous statement. "Not like that you pervert!"

The smile on Jiraiya's face fell. "Jeez princess there's no reason to dash my hopes away."

"With you I do." was her response. "So how did the training trip go?" she asked while looking over some of the documents on her desk.

She didn't see the large frown on his face but was definitely able to notice Jiraiya's annoyed grunt.

"Hn, disastrous!"

Tsunade gave him her full attention. "Really, I would have thought that Naruto would have soaked up all the knowledge he could from you. Where is he anyway?"

"Naruto said he was going to stop by his house first. As far as soaking up knowledge, he learned but not much from myself." he said dejectedly.

"Explain." Tsunade said with a raised eyebrow.

Jiraiya let out a deep sigh before answering. "All throughout the trip I tried to teach Naruto how to control the nine tails fox's chakra. But he refused rather harsh, even to the point of getting violent about it when I persisted for long periods of time. I tried to refuse teaching him anything but he simply countered by training his body and mind on his own."

He took a moment to get his thoughts together before continuing. "I didn't like what I saw when I took a look at some of the books he was reading so I began trying to bargain with him. He agreed at first by having me teach him a few earth ninjutsu. Only after I taught him, he went back on our deal and back to his own training regimen. After that I found myself simply trying to advise him in his training."

Tsunade decided to halt his explanation. "Are you telling me that despite having three years to train that he is unable to defend himself from Akatsuki?"

The fact that Jiraiya was hesitant didn't bode well to her. "Actually, he has already beaten two of them."

Her eyes widened but she wasn't given a chance to speak as he continued talking.

"About two years into the trip we ran into two of them. I had Naruto take on the weaker of the two while I handled the strongest. Naruto won that day while mine made a quick retreat. Then some time last week, Naruto and Gaara of the sand killed another member while in Suna."

"What was Naruto doing in Suna a week ago when you were both supposed to be here?" she asked sternly.

Once again Jiraiya let out a sigh. "Because some time during our trip… he." he gritted his teeth. "Ran. Away."

Silence filled the office as Tsunade could only stare at Jiraiya. When she finally found her voice it was nothing short of a scream.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE RAN AWAY?"

"I meant just that. He ran away while I wasn't watching him. I eventually tracked him down to Suna nearly half a year later. Unfortunately once I did find him, he refused to leave Suna. Practically declaring it as his training ground for the remaining part of the trip. I would have dragged his ass out of there but he had befriended the Kazekage and his family. They threatened with war against Konoha if Naruto was forcibly taken from their home."

Tsunade began fervently rubbing her temples. She began to remind herself what was important at the moment and not to allow this new development to stress her so much.

'He's back in the village, he's back in the village and strong enough to fight Akatsuki members with or without help…. Wait…' It was then that another question entered her mind. 'If Naruto's able to protect himself, then why is Jiraiya complaining about the training?'

She decided to give her thoughts a voice. "If Naruto is capable of defending himself from Akatsuki, then why do you act like the trip was a waste?"

"Because I wanted to teach Naruto his father's techniques and even pass on his beliefs, not the path he's gone down."

Tsunade shook her head. "Jiraiya." she said with sympathy. "I understand that you wanted Naruto to be like Minato. But you can't force Naruto to become someone he doesn't want to become."

"I understand that Tsunade, and I probably wouldn't mind if Naruto didn't start to remind me of Orochimaru."

"What do you mean?" she asked surprised.

Jiraiya pulled out a thick book from his kimono and handed it to her. Tsunade stared at the book, clearly confused.

"This is a book about human anatomy and ways to cure injuries that I published during the second ninja world war."

Jiraiya nodded. "Yes and that's just one of the books that Naruto studied."

"I don't see what's so bad about him reading one of my books." she stated with amusement lacing her voice.

"Take a look inside." he said.

She simply shrugged her shoulders and did as she was told, opening to a random page. Several parts were highlighted and side notes were made. There were even dividers placed in for easy access to certain pages. At first she didn't notice anything unusual, but then she took a closer look at the highlighted area and side notes. She began following the directions of the various notes and turned to the page they directed to confirm her suspicion.

After Tsunade confirmed that she was right, she closed the book. "He has highlighted the locations of the arteries and the name of the bones. He has also left directions to pages that contain information on weak points in a human's skeletal structure and the pain a person experiences when a certain bones are broken."

Jiraiya nodded with a solemn look on his face. "Don't forget that isn't the only book he studied. He has read several books revolving around poisons and even one on psychology. He hasn't been training himself to become a better ninja; he's been training himself to be a better killer."

Tsunade took a few minutes to think and Jiraiya stayed silent as he understood that this was a lot to take in.

"Given Naruto's already known…. quirks, I can understand your concern. Though I doubt there is anything to worry about I will schedule for Naruto to have a session with Inoichi Yamanaka. I simply think that Naruto has embraced the harsh truth to what ninja are at a younger age than most, but if Inoichi finds him mentally unstable I'll have him suspended until he's considered stable again."

"Good, there are some other things you might need to know as well." Jiraiya added.

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto's Apartment<strong>

Sakura had just finished dusting the last bit of Naruto's living room. She had been surprised when he asked her to clean his home while he was away, but was grateful that he trusted her enough to lend her a key to his apartment.

She looked over the dresser he had positioned in the living room and looked over the memento's he had lying on it. Sakura was a little disappointed that the picture of team seven wasn't one of the items displayed, but in its place were other items of importance to Naruto.

A picture of Naruto with his arm slung around the neck of a very uncomfortable Shino and another one of Naruto holding a ramen bowl standing in front of the Ichiraku's which had the words "100th ramen bowel" scribbled on it, said ramen bowel located right next to it complete with chopsticks. There were a few other trinkets on the dresser that Sakura noticed such as the picture of Naruto and the third Hokage, and another object that she didn't quite understand.

The object in question was a white oval container that was covered with cracks and scorch marks. The only indication of what importance it held to Naruto was a date and the words "The day we became one" badly scribbled on it. **(2)**The words slightly disturbed her, but the fact that the date followed back to when Naruto was just five made her believe that it was just the act of a lonely child. The last item had not been placed on the dresser but had been hung above. Naruto's custom Chunin vest, hanging for all to see.

Moving on from the living room to where Naruto's bedroom was suppose to be, Sakura made a bee line for one of the many weight lifting machines that filled the room. Ever since she had been apprenticed to Tsunade, Sakura had decided to use the machines to get a warm up before her training.

She double checked how much weight was set for it before she sat down on the cushioned chair and gripped the two bars in for of her. A sense of pride emanated from her as she performed the quick work out. Her pride was replaced by frustration when it felt like the machine got jammed…. again.

She attempted to push the bar a few more times before getting up and turning to fix the problem herself. Only she froze in place when she found that the reason behind the machines malfunction was because of the black clad man who had his left foot pressed down on the weights.

She was ready to attack the intruder but stopped as she recognized the all too familiar dress style of black leather and the golden blonde hair on top of his head.

"Naruto?" she asked.

"Who else Sakura? Of course it's us." he said with playful mirth.

Sakura didn't respond as she took in the changes to his appearance. His clothes were still the same except he no longer wore a mask on his face and his head band had been grafted on his belt much like Lee. Another thing she quickly noticed was that his trade mark spider was not visible on his chest or anywhere else on his clothing. His physique had changed much over the years to the point that it was similar to Asuma's except a little smaller. Then there was his hair. Before leaving it had been short and spiky, now it had grown out to meduim length and framed his face down to his chin.

"Sakura. Sakura!"

She snapped out of her observation when Naruto began snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"You paying attention now?"

She nodded. "Sorry about that, it's just that you've changed a lot. It surprised me is all."

Naruto chuckled. "We've been gone over three years. We were bound to change some. Anyway thanks for keeping the place dust free."

"No problem. So how did your training go?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I was able to get a lot down and have improved by leaps and bounds immensely. But from what I can see I'm not the only one to have improved over the years. By the way how are the others doing?" Naruto asked as he walked out of the room.

Sakura followed as she answered. "Everyone's doing ok, more or less. Team nine still show signs that they haven't completely gotten over Neji's death… Though on a brighter note, we've all become Chunin."

"That's good to hear. Though it's to be expected that those close to Neji would still be a little sad." He said as he made his way to the fridge.

Opening it up revealed that someone had emptied out the old products and restocked it for his arrival. "Hey Sakura did you touch our fridge?"

She gave him a confused look. "No, I only dusted."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and grabbed a bottle of water.

While Naruto enjoyed his bottle of water, Sakura noticed his duffel bag placed next to his dresser and the odd weapon leaning against the wall.

"You took up learning kenjutsu?" she asked curiously.

Naruto took another gulp of water before following Sakura's eyes. Once his eyes fell onto the triple bladed scythe his lips formed into a malicious smile. "No, that is just something we took as a trophy after defeating someone after our life."

Sakura shuddered from the smile and chose not to stay on the subject. "Well it's good to see that you're back Naruto but I've got a few things that I need to get done and I'm sure you want to meet up with some of the others as well."

Naruto nodded before allowing her out. Before making his own exit, he looked back to his dresser and smiled as he spotted his second trophy. It wasn't much of one, but the weird ocular eye patch was the only significant thing that he could find on the Akatsuki bomber nin.

* * *

><p>After he had visited Ichiraku's, Naruto had planned to see how Anko was doing. At least that was his plan until two Anbu materialized in his path and informed him that he was to report to the Hokage…. immediately.<p>

He figured that was somewhere he would have to visit; Naruto just figured that he could prolong it till later in the day.

Walking into the office he wasn't surprised by Jiraiya's presence and gave a brief word of acknowledgement before sitting down in the chair located in front of the large desk.

"Pervert."

Tsunade chuckled at Jiraiya's disgruntled face. "Hello Naruto. How was your trip?" she asked.

Naruto gave a wide smile. "Eventful."

"Jiraiya has filled me in on what happened throughout it. I'm surprised that you didn't take advantage of Jiraiya's vast knowledge." Naruto laughed at this.

"That knowledge must be selective because the first five months was nothing but nagging about learning to use the demons chakra. Even after that he tried to force us to learn only certain techniques."

Tsunade nodded. "Yes I know. But luckily both of your stubborn minds did not prevent you from training."

After her statement, she opened one of the drawers to her desk and pulled out Naruto's book. "Jiraiya showed me your training material and he has given me reasons to be concerned about your mental state."

She paused to see if Naruto would give some out burst. Oddly enough, he stayed quiet though she could see his facial features shift to one of slight annoyance.

"So I have called for Inoichi Yamanaka and asked him to give you a psychological evaluation. If there is evidence that you are not mentally ok, then I'll have to remove you from active duty."

At this Naruto frowned and turned to Jiraiya. "Is this your way to get back at us?"

Jiraiya wasn't able to get a word out as Tsunade decided to intervene. "No it isn't, you would have been required to get an evaluation upon your eventually promotion to either Special Jonin or Jonin. But I decided with the events of your trip that you were due for one now."

Naruto was still unhappy but nodded in understanding. Jonin were hand selected for the promotion and often worked alone or began training Genin. You didn't want to send someone outside of the village or have them around children that could possibly be insane or mentally ill.

"So when do we see Inoichi?" he asked.

"Now. He's waiting for you in room two seventy-five."

Naruto then got up and left the office, immediately heading to said room after closing the door behind him.

* * *

><p>Inoichi ticked off the things that his Hokage had informed him of about Naruto Uzumaki while he waited in the cool white room. He thought about the questions that he would ask, the body language or facial twitch and expression to look out for, and the mind delve he would perform afterwards.<p>

One would wonder why the questions would be necessary if he planned to delve into Naruto's mind using his clan's technique. And the answer for it was for two reasons. The first being that it would save time for his clan's technique if he knew what to look for specifically. And the second reason was that he wanted to give his daughter a better idea of what many in their clan did as a living.

The blonde haired, purple clad kunoichi sitting next to him kept fiddling with either a strand of her hair or a part of her skirt. He shook his head at her nervous ticks.

The door to the office opened and Naruto walked in. He gave the two sitting at the rectangular table a brief nod before taking his seat at the fold up tin chair a few feet away.

Inoichi was the first to speak. "Hello Naruto. It's been a while since our last session and I guess it was due time that we had another."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "We guess though the last time we were alone." he said pointing to Ino.

"Sorry about that. I believe you met my daughter Ino before."

Naruto shook his head in affirmation. "Yes we have. It's been a long time Ino, you've developed very well over the years." he said in a tone that made Inoichi mentally groan.

'He's flirting with my daughter.'

"Well Naruto it seems like I'm not the only one who has improved. Your body has become even more… appealing." Ino said in a sly voice.

'Oh great, and she's flirting back!'

Naruto's smile grew and he opened his mouth but was interrupted by Inoichi.

"I've brought my daughter along in order to give her a hands on experience to our clan's secondary career. But if you're not comfortable with this I can have her leave." he said with a little hope evident in his voice.

"No, that won't be necessary. Besides we wouldn't mind if a beautiful flower such as her poked around in our mind"

The two Yamanaka were opposites of each other at the moment. Inoichi was annoyed and regretting his decision on bringing his daughter within range of a boy her age who would be full of raging hormones. Ino on the other hand kept her sly smile and was ready to return the flirt. But just like Naruto, she too was stopped thanks to Inoichi.

"Alright then we'll begin with some of the questions I have for you. The first question I have revolves around your reading materials. I'm curious as to why you choose to spend your time studying the various topics such as psychology, botany, and human anatomy. Also why did you only focus on specific parts when it came to botany and anatomy?"

Naruto answered without hesitation. "The first half of the trip was spent with Jiraiya nagging us about controlling… our additional power."

Inoichi choose here to cut him off. "It's alright Naruto; Ino was informed about your situation when she became Chunin, as were the others once they were promoted."

Naruto didn't question why they were informed and decided to continue where he left off. "When Jiraiya could not convince us to work on using the nine tails fox's power he attempted to halt all training together. So we decided to improve our knowledge on subjects that we believed would help us as a ninja. As far as focusing on specific parts you will have to elaborate as there were many specifics we focused on."

"Well for example the locations of tendons and arteries, or in the case of the botany studies, poisons." Inoichi added.

Naruto nodded his head. "Ah yes those parts. As we said before it was to improve ourselves as ninja. Being able to memorize the location of tendons and their functions allow us to know what part to sever in order to disable or hinder an enemy. Also being able to pinpoint arteries makes it easier to make an enemy bleed out. Then the knowledge in poison should be…obvious."

Inoichi took a second to scribble a few notes down before continuing. "I see, but that doesn't completely answer my question. Why didn't you also study the aspects of treating wounds and creating antidotes for poisons, I would believe these topics to be valuable knowledge as well."

"We did not study them due to the direction we plan to take in our ninja career. "

Inoichi showed interest as he continued to scribble notes. "Would you care to share your future goal with us?"

"We plan to become a hunter nin." he stated.

"Hmmm, that's a rather gruesome career. If you do succeed in becoming one then we will definitely be having more sessions together. What encouraged this decision?" Inoichi asked.

Naruto took a second to consider whether he wanted the man to know or not. Thanks to his symbiote he could hide or even alter certain memories, like he did in the past with his memories of discovering his symbiote and the reason behind his plural sense of self. But he had also known the head Yamanaka for many years and came to trust the mains intelligent and reason. "The invasion with Suna and Oto could have been avoided if someone had killed Orochimaru before then. We plan to insure nothing like that happens again."

Inoichi stopped his work. "Naruto I understand how you feel about that but we had hunter nin back then as well-"

"And they sucked at their job!" Naruto stated somewhat aggresively.

Inoichi paused for a brief moment. "Naruto you have to understand that Orochimaru is ninja that few can fight on even ground. Do you really believe that you can match up to someone of his abilities?"

"We know we can. Already we have fought two rouge nins that are S rank and won."

Ino's eyes widened. "Wow that's rather a huge accomplishment."

"Hmmmm, now that you brought it up during one of your fights with an S rank nin you chose to….. incapacitate him in the most disturbing way. Why did you rip his head off of his still living, conscious body?"

"YOU DID WHAT?" Ino shouted.

Naruto began chuckling in a way that disturbed the two in the room. Inoichi was ready to ask what was so funny but Naruto choose to speak first.

"Funny how Jiraiya mentions that we ripped off a person's head, but doesn't mention that said person lacked the ability to die."

The confused expressions on Ino's and Inoichi's face caused Naruto to chuckle even more.

Finally Inoichi found his voice. "The inability to die. Do you mean he was immortal?"

"We're not sure. All we know is that we had attempted to kill him in several other fashions before, only to succeed in landing a killing blow but failing to kill him. Even ripping his head off didn't kill him, though it did succeed in completely disabling him from the neck down." Naruto answered.

Inoichi's face was full of disbelief. "There is a possibility that you were caught in a genjutsu."

"No. It wasn't a genjutsu. Trust us, we thought the same thing as well and made to break ourselves out of it only to find that we weren't in one. Just do the mind scan thing you do and you'll see that we are not lying." Naruto immediately stated.

Inoichi shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. When I perform my clan jutsu and view your memories, I can only see from your perspective and hear only your thoughts. I can't sense if there were a genjutsu cast on you that you couldn't detect." He would however watch the memory regardless and confirm with Jiraiya on the S rank nins possible immortality.

Having finished with all the questions and satisfied with the answers, Inoichi addressed Naruto once more. "Now that we've got the questions out of the way, me and my daughter will do a quick mind delve on you."

Both Yamanaka rose from their chair and brought themselves to Naruto's sides. "Alright Naruto, same as usual. Just relax and we'll be done before you know it."

Naruto took a deep breathe and stayed still as the two placed their hands on his head. A smirk quickly formed on his face when he felt Ino weave her fingers playfully through his hair.

* * *

><p>Inside Naruto's mind, Inoichi and Ino stood at opposite ends of a brain that had several scrolls sticking out the side. Both had their hands on a scroll and quickly filtered through the memories as the unraveling of the scrolls attested to.<p>

Inoichi couldn't help but snicker at how hesitant his daughter was about searching through Naruto's mind, contrary to her flirtatious attitude earlier. But luckily she relaxed shortly after beginning.

They were already reaching an hour into their work and Inoichi did not find anything that indicated that Naruto had lied or that he was mentally ill. He had found Naruto's fight with the supposed immortal and had to admit that as far as Naruto was aware, there wasn't any genjutsu cast.

"What the!"

His daughter's sudden exclamation caused Inoichi to stop. "Anything wrong dear?"

Ino didn't respond at first, but was obviously disturbed by something. "Dad you might want to come over here and have a look."

Inoichi did as his daughter said and gave her a curious glance before taking a look into the memory she was viewing.

His view quickly changed from the organic mind he was currently in to a dark hotel room. Though his head didn't move, his surroundings shifted to an open window that had moon light pouring in. Two hands appeared within his vision and slowly closed the window before his view changed to Jiraiya who was passed out on one of the beds.

One of Inoichi's eyebrow rose as Naruto began slowly moving towards Jiraiya. One of his hands began to hover of the toad sage's head before suddenly latching onto the man's head. A struggle quickly broke out and Naruto began to use his free hand to punch into Jiraiya's kidney.

"Stop struggling pervert!"

Jiraiya's body went limp and Inoichi's eyes widened as he witnessed the all too familiar sight of descending into another's mind. Soon enough, Naruto found himself in a room similar to the one Ino and Inoichi were currently in.

He took a step away from the scroll so that he could think. His daughter patiently waited for her father to speak, a little concerned that someone outside of her family had learned how to use one of their ninjutsu.

"I want you to continue where you left off. After I'm done looking through some of the other memories I'll look further into this." Inoichi stated.

"Alright daddy, I'll let you know if I find anything else unusual." Ino said turning back to viewing the memory she was previously on.

* * *

><p><strong>Twenty minutes later<strong>

Naruto opened his eyes to find the two Yamanaka's back to their original seats. Pushing off his chair, he lazily stood up.

"Are we done?"

Inoichi nodded but fixed him with a hard glare. "We're done, but before you go care to explain why you _didn't_ tell us that you had discovered how to use one of my clan's techniques."

Having been headed towards the exit of the room, Naruto froze mid-step. A cold silence followed as Naruto slowly turned around.

"We… we forgot about it." he honestly answered. In truth Naruto rarely used the technique after his test run on Jiraiya. It was best used to extract information from an enemy's mind. Outside of a mission it was useless in his hands as far as he was concerned.

'Figures.' Inoichi thought to himself. After several years of examining Naruto, Inoichi felt he knew the young man well enough to know when he was lying.

"I see, then that's all for today. All that is left is to report to the Hokage and inform her of your sane mentality, dark as it may be." Inoichi said before making his way to the Hokage office, Naruto and Ino following close behind.

Once they reached the doors to the Hokage's office, Inoichi quickly addressed the two teens. "It won't take me long to talk with Lady Tsunade, I'm sure she will want to talk to you afterwards Naruto so stick around."

Before entering the office, the older Yamanaka sent a message to his daughter.

'Try to keep him distracted so he won't enter until I'm done.'

With that said, Inoichi closed the door behind him while Ino turned to Naruto.

"So…. have any plans today?"

* * *

><p><strong>Several minutes later<strong>

Tsunade listened carefully as Inoichi went over all the information he had found while sifting through Naruto's mind. She was intrigued by the things Naruto had learned behind Jiraiya's back and laughed at the mention of Naruto getting the drop on Jiraiya to test the Yamanaka technique. Said toad sage had already been dismissed considering this was information meant only for her, Naruto, and the two Yamanaka's who performed his evaluation.

"In the end Naruto isn't a danger to anyone else other than his enemies and luckily that isn't Konoha." Inoichi finished.

Tsunade nodded her head. "Yes I figured as much. Thank you for your time and please let Naruto know I'd like to see him on your way out."

"Don't bother I'm right here." came a voice from the ceiling.

Both occupants in the room looked up to see one of the tiles moved to the side and for both Naruto and Ino to drop through. Ino gave her father a nervous smile that conveyed her apology.

Naruto on the other hand gave him a smug smile. "What? You thought that I wouldn't sneak in like before because you left your hot daughter behind."

Inoichi pinched the bridge of his nose in response began muttering. Tsunade quickly addressed Naruto, wanting the three out of her office as soon as possible. The entire ordeal had taken up much of the afternoon and she wanted it over with.

"You really want to be a hunter nin?"

Naruto merely nodded.

"I personally don't care what career you choose but I know the council will want you to be kept within the walls of Konoha." she held up her hand seeing his expression shift. "But then again they and Jiraiya decided that I should run things, it's only fair that I run it as I see fit. Do you remember where your old team's training ground is?"

"Yes."

"Show up there tomorrow at ten, I want to personally see what you're capable of. I'll call for Kakashi to test you. You are all dismissed." Tsunade said.

Naruto didn't think twice about exiting via the window, he wanted to be done with the meeting as much as Tsunade did and had someone he wanted to see before the day was over.

* * *

><p>The sun was beginning to set and the streets lights were on. Right now Anko should have been at home or out drinking. At least this is what Naruto believed, hoping that her routine had not changed over the years as he swung through the village.<p>

Dropping down mere feet away from the bar Anko frequented, he walked the rest of the way. Passing through the doors, Naruto instantly spotted the purple haired sadist and made to sit by her. Another patron in the bar made to sit next to Anko as well only to be immediately shoved aside by Naruto. The patron turned to confront the instigator but quickly backed away when he saw the leather covered man. With the nuisance out of the way, Naruto proceeded to sit down next to Anko.

Anko didn't turn to even acknowledge the new comer and instead simply narrowed her eyes into irritated slits. 'How many times do I have to tear someone apart before idiots get it through their heads?' she asked herself, unaware of who exactly was sitting next to her.

It wasn't hard to put two and two together for Naruto to realize that Anko didn't recognize him and chose to have a little fun instead of wasting the surprise.

"So babe… what brings you here?" he asked smugly.

He had to hold back a snicker as a growl emanated from Anko.

"Back off. This is the only warning you're going to get." she stated.

The smile that formed on Naruto's face only pushed Anko's growl to increase in volume.

"Heh nice warning but we're more interested in what you plan to do if we don't heed it."

Anko's right hand had instantly grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt while her other hand held a kunai threateningly towards his neck.

"Alright asshole go now or….." Having gotten a better look at him it, her brain froze as it began putting together the pieces of a puzzle. "Did… did you say we?"

Naruto laughed before responding. "Finally recognized us?"

"When did you finally get back?" Anko asked, obvious glee filling her voice.

"Just today. We've been busy what with being interrogated about the last three and a half years."

Anko nodded before asking a question that had been on her mind for the past few weeks. "Weren't you supposed to be arriving earlier?"

"Yeah but we stole the reigns from Jiraiya and took control of the ride."

"Huh?" Anko asked, clearly confused.

Naruto chuckled again. "We ran off while the perv wasn't looking."

Anko wouldn't admit it to Naruto's face but she had missed him. He was the only one who could make her genuinely laugh. The two continued to animatedly chat and make up for lost time. Naruto told Anko of all of the things that Inoichi and Tsunade had to interrogate out of him and more. He told her of the places he visited, the foods he tried, and the many ways he got back at Jiraiya for dragging him along. There were some things that he withheld from her, but these were things that he felt were not important such as his training or the things that pertained to his symbiote. Unfortunately for Anko there were some things Naruto couldn't and wouldn't tell her.

The conversation had gone smoothly till an annoyed voice interrupted. "Do you plan on buying anything?"

Naruto turned to the bartender only to throw a few bills. "Get us anything. We don't care."

The bartender snatched the cash off the counter and replaced it with one of the random bottles behind him. Naruto didn't even give the bottle a glance and resumed his conversation.

"As we were saying, we have to fight Kakashi tomorrow to…. evaluate our skill."

Anko gave a short whistle. "Setting you up against the copy nin of Konoha, think you can hold your own."

"Oh we plan to do more than hold our own, we plan to crush him!" Naruto finished with balled fist slamming onto the counter.

The resulting boom echoed through the bar, causing everyone's focus to shift towards Naruto.

Anko would have assumed Naruto was simply blowing smoke or talking big if it were not for the vicious yet confident smile on his face.

"You're serious!" she stated.

"Yes, we are. Tomorrow at around ten we're to fight him at training ground seven. Take it you'll be there?"

Anko hummed to herself, taking a thoughtful pose. "I don't know. I mean, there might just be missions that require my special touch." she said with self importance.

She held her pose until her eyes fell on Naruto's humor laced questioning face.

"Alright I'll be there. Heh, not like I'd miss a fight like this."

Unbeknownst to either, several patrons had yet to go back to their own conversation and continued to eavesdrop. Many holding interest in the new found event.

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Day Training Ground Seven**

Tsunade allowed her eyes to circle the forest surrounding the training ground, growling as she spotted the many nins waiting for the arrival of the two fighters. She didn't know how word got around concerning the fight between Naruto and Kakashi, but she didn't like. This was supposed to be an evaluation concerning Naruto's skills, not a spectacle for others to watch. She considered ordering the lot to vacate but reconsidered when she spotted the betting pool. Her addiction to gambling didn't stop her sense of responsibility. The spectator's had thus been ordered to always stay outside of a set distance from either Kakashi or Naruto.

Many held complete confidence in Kakashi's reputation and experience, something she believed in as well when she placed her bet. Some felt that Naruto's youth gave him the edge, causing the betting pool to be successful as their needed to be winners and losers.

Resting on a branch near the top of the tall trees, Anko waited patiently. She had already placed her bet on Naruto winning and chose her seat in order to view the fight without any obstruction. With nothing better to do, she listened to the rambling of those around her.

"Wonder if he can win."

"Against Kakashi. Don't make me laugh."

"Is it so hard to believe that a nin from the new generation could surpass one from the old?"

"He has a point."

"Tch, believe what you want. There's no way some young punk is beating Kakashi."

"It's an age old lesson. The young will surpass the old. It was true with the Third Hokage and the Sanin, and it was true with Jiraiya and his student."

"You are talking about living legends. The Sanin and the Fourth Hokage had been prodigies."

"Didn't you see the Chunin exams?"

"I saw a stupid kid become full of himself and get the shit beaten out of him for it."

"He won though."

"He got lucky!"

"Ninja don't get lucky."

Anko tuned out their voices with Naruto's entry. The seventeen year old looked around, obviously confused by the "audience" that filled the woods.

* * *

><p>"OK. What the hell is this?" he asked aloud.<p>

He question wasn't answered and instead Naruto chose to move over to Tsunade and confront her on the issue. "Alright we'll bite. What is with all these…. onlookers?"

Tsunade sent a glare towards Naruto and his inquiry. "I don't know? But considering that the only ones who knew about this were us in the office and Kakashi I'd have to say that one of us got a big mouth." she said hinting heavily on the fact that she blamed him.

Naruto wanted to exercise his middle finger but decided against it as he realized, though begrudged, that he really was responsible for the current situation. 'We could have been a little quieter in our conversation, but how were we to know that so many would have the free time to show up and watch. Dammit!'

The audience was not welcomed. Naruto had originally had his symbiote take on the form of his planned hunter nin uniform, but when he sensed the large gathering he changed it back to his previous attire from the other day. Then there were the skills and abilities he had acquired from the past years. Showing off his outfit and abilities to a select few such as Anko, Kakashi, and the Hokage (who would have seen his uniform regardless) was one thing. But with the profession he planned to take part in required secrecy, and he was not about to broadcast everything that was meant to be secret to all those that were potential candidates as his future targets.

So with his eager and excited attitude reduced to sour disappointment, Naruto waited with the Hokage for Kakashi to make his fashionably late entrance. To Naruto's surprise they didn't have to wait long.

'Guess the bitch has her upsides. Must have been laying into him about his tardiness.'

Without waiting for further prompting, Naruto approached his old squad leader. The word sensei didn't feel right to Naruto. Neither Kakashi nor Jiraiya ever could teach them anything and oddly enough, aside from Kakashi's laziness and Jiraiya's stubborn attitude on what Naruto should learn, it wasn't their fault that they couldn't teach him. Naruto merely needed to be pointed in the right direction, then he and his symbiote could solve whatever they needed.

It was what Naruto did when he asked Anko to teach him the hidden shadow snake hands jutsu and the earth release shadow clone**(3)**. The only draw back that Naruto discovered back then was that he needed to sign the snake contract **(4)**.

Kakashi lone eye did a quick sweep over Naruto, studying the changes and gauging him.

"Well you've definitely grown." he stated lazily.

Naruto merely dropped his stance to one that projected aggression.

Kakashi chuckled, recognizing the shift in stance as Naruto's start to the fight. "What? No quick chat with your old sensei. I mean it has only been three years." he finished sarcastically.

The small tickle in the back of his mind was the only warning Kakashi got for Naruto's oncoming hook.

After dodging the blow with a leap back Kakashi decided to give a smart ass comment. "Still impatient. I didn't-"

The feel of his teeth grinding together as Naruto's fist impacted against his jaw ended his quick witted remark. He had expected to hear gloating from Naruto as his head was thrown back only to find no such rest as Naruto continued his assault.

Punches, kicks, and even elbows were thrown at Kakashi to apply enough pressure that he would be too busy blocking the attacks to fight back. A small gap appeared in Naruto's onslaught and Kakashi jumped at the chance to put space between himself and Naruto. A quick kick to Naruto's ankle forced his body to lose its balance, allowing Kakashi to grab a part of his jacket and throw him over his shoulder.

Naruto's body rolled only twice before his hands slammed onto the ground, righting himself and pushing off to land on his feet. He made no move to continue his offense as the sight of Kakashi reaching for his head band, lifting it up to reveal his Sharingan seemed to advise against such action.

He had yet to fight someone with an active Sharingan aside from his brief encounter with Itachi when he and Jiraiya were looking for Tsunade **(5).** Naruto didn't know what to expect from the fabled Sharingan other than what he had over heard and read about. Its ability to copy his technique were not a problem as the ones he planned to display involved the use of his symbiote.

It's ability to see the future, no that had to be a rumor. If it truly could see the future than the Uchiha massacre would have never happened. No the rumor that it could predict human movement sounded more accurate. That could probably be a problem.

The only other prowess of the Sharingan that Naruto could think of was its adept nature in genjutsu and that had been proven to be ineffective against him.

Naruto slowly edged himself closer to Kakashi who had continued to remain stationary.

"Now that I have prepared myself. We can begin the first lesson, hand to hand combat."

With the end of the sentence, Naruto leapt towards Kakashi once more. Naruto's concern about the Sharingan turned true as Kakashi was not only able to dodge his attacks but was able to successfully counter some of them. This became more prominent as the fight dragged on until Naruto created a bit of distance between the two of them, taking careful flips back.

Kakashi made to erase the distance between them, hoping to use the blind spot created from Naruto's back flips to his advantage. He was merely a few feet shy of being within striking distance when Naruto's left foot touched the ground to land from his flip when the same foot propelled Naruto body forward.

With his right knee jutting forward, Naruto threw his entire body weight forward aiming his attack straight for Kakashi's solar plexus. If the attack landed it would not only cause Kakashi great pain but the blow would also cause the diaphragm to spasm, making it difficult to breathe.

His knee connected and in the same moment created an explosion of splinters as it came into contact with the log Kakashi replaced himself with. As soon as Naruto's foot touched the ground, he whipped his head to his right, looking straight at Kakashi who stood a several feet away.

Kakashi stared back with a raised eyebrow. Interest taking over his concern for the fight. 'How did he immediately know I was here? I could have grabbed that log from anywhere yet he knew to look in this direction. Mere coincidence… maybe.'

As he prepared to reengage in the fight, his thoughts returning more to the fight itself. 'I forgot that his fighting style was based more on acrobatics and brute strength than tight, defensive form. He must have been using that other style to merely test my eye. Can't rely on substitution all the time. I'll need an advantage, something that will make him think twice before striking.' he thought before reaching into his pouch and drawing out one of his kunai.

Taking up a fighting stance, he brandished his dagger size kunai threateningly. Naruto paid the kunai little attention. He had trained himself so that his hands and feet were life threatening. Kakashi could stab and lacerate his body yet Naruto could do just as much damage with the knowledge he had and the strength of his body.

Both knew that this was merely a friendly spar, but with the presence of Konoha's best medical nin, both felt that they could take the fight a little further without worry.

The spectators couldn't tell who truly moved first, but in the next instant both nins darted towards each other and began fighting again. Just as Kakashi had thought, Naruto had dropped the previous fighting style. Before, his attacks were basic and straight forward. Now his attacks had come from different angles, twisting, bending, and flipping himself in odd angles to dodge and strike back.

The fight had started off slow. It had seemed more like a mere practice spar between two low ranking nin and had steadily grown to the fast pace and deadly fight between the ex-Anbu and the Chunin who was keeping his promise, holding his own against the man that was his superior in rank. If it were not for the distance between those fighting and the spectators, some would have a hard time keeping up with the fight. As it was it appeared as if the two were sliding across the ground with how fast they moved, their feet never staying in one place for longer than one or two seconds.

Finally the equilibrium broke as Naruto shot a web line of symbiote onto Kakashi's foot. Kakashi felt the tug on his foot and retaliated with a swipe of his kunai, cutting the line to his foot. But before Kakashi could act further another line of black webbing latched onto the out stretched kunai wielding hand. With his one foot already out of place and his arm carrying his body weight with it, it was a simple matter for Naruto to force him stumbling forward.

With the same hand that had pulled Kakashi forward, Naruto swung, twisting his body and exerting his body weight into the punch. With his one hand preoccupied and his balance gone Kakashi could do nothing to dodge the attack.

Using his free hand Kakashi attempted to grab Naruto's wrist. Only to miss and for the fist to connect cleanly with the lower portion of his chin.

The first punch Naruto had landed hurt as any punch should. But that same punch had been thrown from Naruto after leaping towards Kakashi. This punch however had been thrown from a firmly planted position, allowing Naruto to put all his strength into it.

The pain rattled Kakashi's frame and sent him soaring backwards. Though painful Kakashi quickly snapped back to his sense as he felt the faintest of pulls on his arm. Realizing that Naruto still had a web latched on, he twisted the arm so his kunai could reach and severed the second line.

He knew better than to believe that Naruto would give him any breathing room. Naruto had spent most of the match staying within striking distance and that wouldn't change now that Kakashi was vulnerable and still recovery from the previous blow.

Twisting his body midair, Kakashi tossed his kunai. Seeing the projectile, Naruto quickly flipped to the side as the kunai thrown was aimed for his right leg. The flip had only caused Naruto to halt his pursuit for a mere three seconds but it had been more than enough for Kakashi to land and begin the sequence for his hand signs.

Recognizing the hand signs, Naruto quickly performed his own in preparation of a defense. They finished and opened their mouth to spit the substance of their jutsu. Naruto spewed mud from his mouth as it gathered a few feet in front of him while fire was breathed from Kakashi.

A large sphere of fire flew towards Naruto and in the same instant the mud lying in front of Naruto sprung to life, forming a thick wall to protect him. After the two jutsu clashed the mud wall stood for a moment before crumbling to reveal that Naruto had disappeared.

Kakashi jumped from where he stood expecting the ground beneath him to burst open. When it didn't he narrowed his eyes and began sweeping the field around him, looking for any sign of Naruto. The spectators seemed to concentrate on Kakashi as if expecting him to suddenly strike Naruto from his place underground.

The sound of earth breaking behind him was the only noise Kakashi needed in order to know Naruto's location. He had predicted that Naruto would attack from his backside and had been prepared to attack. Spinning around, Kakashi swung his arm slamming it into Naruto's head.

Or so he thought as his eyes focused more onto Naruto and saw that his fist had slammed into Naruto pectoral instead. He froze and slowly followed his line of sight up to where Naruto's head was. The spectators shared in Kakashi's shock as they realized the changed in Naruto's stature.

It wasn't much of a change in size for an Akimichi jutsu. But when Kakashi considered that Naruto was only a couple of inches shorter than himself and was now a little short of a foot taller than him, then it was enough. Though if it had only been Naruto's height Kakashi would still not be worried. But that wasn't the case. Naruto's muscles had already been big for his age. But with the expansion jutsu they were more threatening than ever. **(6)**

The slightly bigger hand of Naruto grabbed the forearm of Kakashi's arm, who in his shock had yet to move his fist. The chuckle that reverberated from Naruto brought Kakashi from his shock.

"You know if we had hit someone with our best shot and they didn't budge….. we would have put at least a little distance between us and them."

Picking Kakashi up with ease, the now larger nin proceeded to slam him on the ground twice before throwing him into the wooded area. Kakashi used the trees to his advantage. The new development in the fight required him to think out his next course of action. Naruto had now taken the advantage in hand to hand fighting, but Kakashi was sure that he could use his vast skills in ninjutsu to turn the fight in his favor. He would just have to hide amongst the trees till he came up with a strategy to end the fight.

Naruto had yet to enter the forest. He knew Kakashi was still conscious and was hiding out in the thick foliage. Normally this would have been a nuisance as Kakashi was skilled in stealth and the time it would take to find him would have given the copy nin enough time to formulate a plan involving his numerous jutsu. But over the years, as Naruto's symbiote had become familiar with chakra it had soon learned to sense the power source as well and shared the ability with its host. The only drawback of the ability was that he could only sense the usage of chakra and not chakra as a whole. But that was the beauty of fighting Kakashi. As long as the copy nin was using his infamous Sharingan, then Naruto could sense him.

Sensing his opponent's chakra amongst the woods, Naruto quickly made his way to Kakashi. The thought of toying with his cornered foe crossed his mind but quickly dropped the idea. This was an ex-Anbu he was dealing with. Better to finish the fight now than to give Kakashi a chance to turn things around.

* * *

><p>Kakashi had thought over several ways he could end the fight or turn the fight around. Unfortunately all of them involved ways to kill Naruto, not knock him out. Kakashi and Naruto may have not gotten along but that didn't mean that he wanted to kill him.<p>

'I hope the feelings mutual.' he nervously thought.

After a few seconds passed Kakashi prepared himself to move when a thought hit him. 'Strange I would have thought that Naruto would have come looking for me. In fact I can't….. hear him!'

Kakashi jumped from the branch he was resting just in time to see it broken like a twig by Naruto's falling form. Anticipating another attack, the Sharingan user began forming the hand signs for a replacement jutsu. To his horror, his hands had been covered by a glob of the webbing that Naruto had been known to shoot from his fist. Unable to finish the hand seals necessary, and now unable to form any hands seals at all, Kakashi was left falling midair trying to rip his hands free from their sticky prison. **(7)**

Unable to free himself, Kakashi suddenly found himself plummeting to the ground faster than before thanks to Naruto downward kick. He knew that Naruto's increase in size would have made him stronger than before, but he had yet to grasp just how much stronger Naruto was in this larger form till he felt it first hand.

The attack itself had rewritten Kakashi's description of pain and the crash to the forest floor only added to the definition. The plummet to the ground soon proved to not be the end of his pain as Naruto landed onto of him, picking him up afterwards, laying him on his feet before beating into him again.

* * *

><p><strong>Several hours later<strong>

One of his eyes opened to reveal the white ceiling of what he could only guess to be a hospital.

"Wha-. What happened? Why can't I move?" Kakashi asked out loud.

"So you're finally awake." Tsunade said to his left side.

Kakashi looked at her lazily, though this time out of lack of strength.

"He beat you." she stated.

Kakashi's raised eyebrow clued her in that she needed to further explain. "Naruto beat you."

"Ah." he simply said.

"So do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Tsunade suddenly asked.

Kakashi gave her another lazy eye. "Bad news."

"Well apparently your subconscious doesn't know the meaning of 'I quit'. Five minutes after he knocked you out you kept getting back up. Could of avoided a lot of damage had you stayed down."

"And the good news?"

Tsunade drily chuckled. "Well you'll have a couple of days to read your book while you recover."

* * *

><p><strong>Anko's apartment<strong>

After grabbing her winnings, Anko had proceeded to drag Naruto back to her apartment and interrogate him on how he had learned the Akimichi expansion technique. She even proceeded to interrogate him even further on what all he had learned during his trip.

Naruto (who was happy for all the attention he was getting)had learned an odd fact about Anko. One of her favorite hobbies was tea ceremony, an odd hobby to have for one who didn't have many guests. Naruto sat on the living room couch, explaining the pros and cons to the Akimichi's famous jutsu while Anko sat adjacent to him.

"We can't truly use the Akimichi family technique due to our lack of girth but if we eat a large meal before hand we can use the calories to use a bastardized version. Though using this technique for prolonged time has negative side effects." Naruto explained.

"Yeah Yeah, but that's not what I asked. How did you learn to use it? I mean the ability to increase your size is something many would like to know but until now the only ones capable of doing so are the Akimichi." Anko said with clear eager.

Naruto took on a thoughtful look as he teased Anko with his mock hesitance. "Hmmm we don't know. It's not like you could use it."

"Hey come on tell me already! I don't care about using it, I just want to how you found out."

Having tired of Naruto's teasing, Anko tackled him. Ensuring that she had him pressed against her sofa Anko proceeded to persuade him. "Now now Naruto. Will you finally tell me or-"She purred using the pause to move her hands closer to his face. "Or do I have to use my snakes!" she yelled.

Naruto had pushed Anko off and mimicked her action. "You forget that we have snakes as well."

Both wrestled for control, neither taking notice of the odd position they were in while they were too caught up in their fun.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>As some of you have noticed I put in a bunch of bold numbers. Basicly those are there to highlight certain areas so that I can explain something in this note.

**1.** Basicly someone had complained that I had left a major plot hole in my last chapter. Basicly Tsunade returning to Konoha despite the missing bond with Naruto. And here is my solution to that plot hole. Not big but it solves it.

**2.**The oval container is the prison that the symbiote was trapped in at the start of this fanfic. Just something I wanted to clarify just in case some people didn't catch that.

**3. **The Data books and the wiki sights refer to the earth clone technique as the earth release shadow clone. not mud clone or earth clone.

**4. **The reason Naruto needed to sign the snake summoning contract in order to use the hidden shadow snake hands jutsu is because the jutsu is derived from the parent jutsu Summoning: Snake. The Jutsu is a form of summoning and thus requires Naruto to sign the contract.

**5. **Yeah yeah I know that I didn't mention this last chapter. Just trying to correct some problems.

**6.** Just incase you are having a hard time imagining how big Naruto grew. He is similar in size to eddie brock before he got cancer and became anti-venom. For those of you who are not familiar with spiderman or venom you can google eddie brock and look at the images for a reference.

**7. **"Shouldn't Kakashi be capable of using some jutsu without hand signs." I don't think so. After looking through Naruto wiki and the data books at Booksamillion everything I have read have pointed out that it's not the ninja themselves that mold chakra to use the jutsu but the hands signs they perform that mold the chakra for them. ninja can manipulate the chakra such as elements but the actual molding is only possible through hand signs. So make someone incapible of performing hand signs, take away their jutsu. Like how the Third Hokage took away Orochimaru's ability to use jutsu.


	10. Chapter 10:It's Complicated

Along Came A Symbiote

Author's Note: Alright I want to thank all those that enjoyed the last chapter, especially those that left reviews. It can be depressing to work on the next chapter when you receive so little (positive) reviews. There are a few things I want to inform readers on such as the fact that the other symbiotes will be making their appearances as well as Haku's return to the plot, still a guy. But neither of these will happen till next chapter and the one following it.

**Small rant (it is small considering all the things I want to rant about)**

I would like to make things clear. Last chapter I had put a note in explaining why Kakashi didn't simply substitute with a log when Naruto stuck his hands together with some symbiote webbing. Like the time I said that Zaku blowing his arms off and not screaming his head off was strange, readers felt the need to correct me and use medical theories or "Naruto theories" to justify the reason I was wrong in my thinking. It's not even a matter of being kind about it, while I do thank people for not blowing up on me. It doesn't matter how nice people are, after hearing it for the 15th time it's just annoying in reviews or PM's. Imagine this cute little 10 year old, as sweet as can be, coming to you every day explaining to you that the sky is blue due to the fact that it reflects off the ocean despite the fact that you think it's black due to space being black. It doesn't matter how nice she is about it, but it does get tiresome after a while.

Without further waste of your time, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 10:It's Complicated

* * *

><p><strong>Few miles from Crater city<strong>

The silence that filled the forest for several miles was unusual, the animals obviously disturbed by some intrusion not made by nature. Said intruder dashed recklessly through the forest as if his very life depended on it.

His actions were not unwarranted as he gripped onto his left arm, blood trickling between his fingers and down his arm. The man had silver medium length hair that had been tousled into a wild state and his torn navy vest and shorts revealed a tone body

A shadow leapt out from behind one tree only to disappear behind another, not that the bleeding man noticed.

* * *

><p>Naruto had been happy with his career as a hunter nin and the bonuses that came along with it. Being able to come and go from the village when he wanted and traveling across the elemental nations was just some of the perks. Of course there were some restrictions such as having to report in via messenger hawks and ultimately answer the Hokage's order to return to the village.<p>

But that aside, he had been enjoying his new start and had made impressive progress in his career. Already he had neutralized five missing nin in the last month. No small feat when one considered that it could take weeks to simply track down one rogue. Some of his fellow hunter nins thought he was just getting beginners luck. Normally Naruto just ignored them, but today made him wonder if there wasn't something to their idea.

When he was enjoying a meal at one of the restaurants of Crater City, a missing nin walked in and sat down at one of the many tables present. He wore no scratched headband, tattoos, or even scars that would link him as a rogue or ninja. It was only thanks to Naruto's acquaintanceship with the man during his academy days that he knew the man was a missing nin from his village.

Mizuki's physique had changed much over the years, but Naruto merely assumed that it was thanks to his time in prison. He had never tried to hunt Mizuki down, but this was more because he assumed the man would have been smart enough to leave the land of fire altogether.

"Yes I would like some stuffed dumplings-"

After hearing his voice, Naruto was certain about the man's identity and began to eat at a slower pace. When he could no longer prolong the full consumption of his meal, he paid for his meal and left. Naruto knew he would tip Mizuki off if he stayed longer than the average person.

Luckily for Naruto, he had been smart about entering Crater City, changing his symbiote so that he was dressed in civilian attire, taking caution by making the clothes bulky enough to hide his hard earned muscles while avoiding any colors such as black that would give any other clues to his career.

Taking a quick turn into a nearby ally he leapt to the roof, his clothes changing into his hunter nin attire mid leap. A black pair of pants and jacket formed with hardened padding along the shoulders, elbows, and knees. The jacket was fully zipped, the zipper located from the side instead of the middle so as to not disturb the spider emblem that hugged his torso. More of the symbiote fluid spread from the jacket and pants forming the rest of his attire. Tall combat boots formed around his feet and part of his pants with gloves forming around his hands. A mask with two white torn edged, tear like eyes covered his face as the final piece of clothing.

The transformation didn't stop there as the gloves extended into sharp talon like nails and the space on his mask over his mouth ripped open to reveal sharp, jagged teeth. The teeth opened up to reveal pink flesh lining the walls inside and a red tongue. **(1)**

His change made, Naruto slipped onto the roof of the restaurant he was in just a few minutes and waited above the entrance, camouflaging himself so as to not draw attention from the several other civilians walking through the streets.

Naruto began tailing Mizuki the second said man exited, taking care to jump from one roof to the next to keep him within site. He took care to insure that he didn't make too much noise between landings despite the sound from the populace of the city making more than enough noise to cover his.

As he tailed Mizuki, Naruto noticed that the man was constantly checking his surroundings, stopping by vendors to look around without seeming too obvious about it.

'Cautious bastard… or paranoid.' Naruto noted to himself.

To Naruto's surprise Mizuki had led him to the out-skirts of the city and continued on into the surrounding forest. Though a surprise, the hunter nin considered this more of a convenience. If he had followed Mizuki back to a hotel or apartment as he originally thought then he would have to take Mizuki down in one swift attack. While Naruto had done this in the past and succeeded, he knew all too well that there was always a chance that his plans wouldn't go as he wanted them.

Out in the forest, away from civilians and other forms of possible collateral damage, there was room for errors.

Naruto decided to start closing the distance between him and his prey after half a mile into the forest. Once he was close enough, he struck, aiming to maim his prey first and tire him out with fatigue and blood loss.

* * *

><p>For the last twenty minutes Naruto had used hit and run tactics, reminding Mizuki that he existed and at the same time hiding his presence directly after. He could have ended this fight long ago, but considering that his was Mizuki he decided to toy with the man and practice some psychological techniques he had learned.<p>

He had ensured that Mizuki had seen him at times and even flashed him a grin, his sharp teeth fully flared. On top of that Naruto had also allowed a few of Mizuki's random attacks to hit him, to give the missing nin a small bit of confidence before Naruto shrugged the attack off effortlessly. The whole point of this was to terrify the missing nin, to make him think he was facing a monster. On a civilian this would be an easy feat, but this wasn't a civilian.

In the end, Naruto had succeeded in his goal and Mizuki was now running in fear for his life. Eventually everything caught up to Mizuki, his fear, his blood loss, and the strength needed to continue running. Naruto watched as his prey slowly came to a stop, the look of fear still on his face but accompanied by exhaustion.

"Did I lose… it?" Mizuki asked himself.

Naruto heard the question and held back his laugh. He allowed a brief few minutes to pass, to allow Mizuki to feel safe. When his prey's body lost its tension, Naruto dropped down and landed behind him. His fist already cocked back as he fell, Naruto swung, hitting the startled man hard enough across his temple to send him rolling.

A quick look at Mizuki was all Naruto needed to verify that the missing nin was unconscious. The normal hunter nin would have killed his target, would have ended their life and destroyed the body on sight. But Naruto had learned from his past encounters that he had skills that most hunter nins didn't and had taken full advantage of them.

Dragging his thumb across one of his sharp teeth, Naruto used the blood produced to summon a large enough snake to swallow a human. The smoke dissipated to reveal one of the more common tan snakes, whose body was now forming a maze through the forest.

"Guard us while we're occupied." Naruto ordered while performing a new set of hand seals.

Once the new set had been finished Naruto reached down to Mizuki's skull and entered his mind. He could have performed the Yamanaka clan jutsu on a corpse, but preferred to use it on a living target for two simple reasons.

The first was simply because it was far easier to look through a living persons mind than a dead one. The second reason concerned how Naruto planned to dispose of the body after he killed Mizuki. Once he killed Mizuki, he planned to feed the body to his snake summon. This ensured that all evidence concerning the missing nin's body, aside from the head, would be lost and untraceable. There was only one problem to this way of disposal and that was the fact that the snake wouldn't eat the body if it was cold. So Naruto needed to keep the missing nin alive long enough before killing him to ensure that the body was still warm enough to satisfy the snake.

Naruto loved the Yamanaka jutsu. It was such a useful jutsu for a hunter nin that Naruto didn't understand why no other person had thought of using it before. With the mind delve he could search a missing nin's mind to see if he had encountered any other missing nins in the past or even the loaction to some secret treasures or knowledge of forbidden or rare jutsu. He could use the information to hunt down others, tracking them down to the last location and gathering more information if needed.

Naruto only searched up to the point that Mizuki went rogue. No need to view his entire life. With the task over, Naruto proceeded to decapitate the missing nin. Afterwards he picked up the freshly killed body and brandished it towards his guarding summon.

"**Dinner time**!" Naruto said, his voice sounding distorted, as if two voices were speaking at once. **(2)**

The summon snake eyed the body, its tongue flapping mere inches away as it tasted the air. Satisfied with the warmth that still lingered on the corpse, it reared back to take the body in one strike. Naruto seeing this, tossed the body towards his summon and watched as the snake snatched the body out of the air with its mouth and proceeded to swallow.

With his hunt over, Naruto changed his appearance to a less threatening form. His claws shrunk back and disappeared out of existence and his teeth were covered behind a thick veil of symbiote. He would need to head back to Konoha to collect his pay; he didn't need his own people attacking him for his appearance.

* * *

><p>After sealing the head away and dismissing his summon, Naruto headed straight for Konoha. It had taken him several hours to get there and by the time he had finished filing his report, debriefing with Tsunade on his kill, and claiming his bounty, afternoon had turned to night. So with his fatigue setting in Naruto had chosen to sleep.<p>

Waking up the next day, Naruto thought over his plans for the day.

'Tsunade told us that there's a mission coming up that she wants us to participate in, so for the moment we are restricted from leaving the village. We haven't had a day to ourselves for some time. Could go hang out with Shino, if he isn't busy with a mission or team practice.'

His stomach growled, reminding him that he had skipped dinner yesterday.

'Guess breakfast is a good start.'

* * *

><p><strong>ElsewhereSome time later**

The past month for Anko had been hectic, keeping her busy and to a further extent, lonely. She was surprised by the fact that Naruto hadn't stopped by to visit. Then again she simply wrote it off as him being too busy with his new career. This didn't stop her from being upset with it as she had assumed that once he was back in the village there would be plenty of time for them to hang out like before.

Walking outside of her apartment, Anko began walking in a random direction. She walked with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her trench coat and no destination in mind.

'Maybe I should get some dango.'

That thought was dismissed when she thought about the fact that she wasn't hungry.

'Training?'

Another idea tossed as she reminded herself of how sick of work she was. Right now she needed a break, anything related to work made this pointless.

'Naru-… He's still out hunting.' she thought, unaware of his return.

Anko thought of her other friends, the few she had, but couldn't think of any that she truly felt like hanging out with or were at work. With nothing to do Anko just kept walking.

* * *

><p>An hour later Anko spotted two blondes talking ahead of her. She smiled when she recognized the two as her colleague's daughter and more importantly, Naruto. The purple haired sadist made no move to call attention to herself while she walked closer and the two had yet to notice her. The smile on her face diminished as she noticed the two fellow nin's mannerisms.<p>

Ino was obviously flirting with Naruto while the blonde hunter nin was aware of the flirts sent his way, a smug smile plastered to his face. Anko didn't know for certain if her friend flirted back thanks to his stiff physical expression, but the way Ino giggled and eyed Naruto was a large factor in her suspicion.

The feelings that roused in Anko surprised her more so from the unfamiliarity of the emotions than the emotions themselves. The emotions were so foreign to her that she couldn't properly identify them.

Oddly instead of walking up to Naruto and greeting him like she planned, Anko found herself eavesdropping on his conversation.

"I'll see you later _Naruto._"

Anko's attempt to listen in was in vain as Ino ended her conversation with Naruto and left. Though her attempt ended in failure Anko was able to identify one of the emotions clouding her mind.

Anger

'Why that…. He should have told me that he was back! Instead he's out flirting with-'

Her thoughts calmed as reason began to sink in. 'It's still early. He could be planning to head towards my apartment next. In fact I'll play a little trick on him.' Anko chuckled to herself before stalking Naruto's retreating form.

Anko couldn't help the excitement she felt. She felt confident as they moved through one of the many paths towards her apartment complex. Every once in a while she would have to duck into a store or behind a corner to avoid being seen.

* * *

><p>Ever since his talk with Ino, Naruto had the odd feeling that he was being followed. He had attempted to find the possible stalker on several occasions but didn't notice anyone in particular looking at him. A few more steps forward and he noticed Shino walking out of a grocery store.<p>

"Hey Shino!" he shouted, gaining the attention of his Aburame friend.

Shino turned towards him and nodded. He made no move to close the distance between them and patiently waited for Naruto. Once close enough to have a proper conversation Naruto spoke.

"How have you been?"

Shino shrugged his shoulders. "I have been doing well. Has your new occupation been a success?"

Naruto nodded his head in response. "You wouldn't believe who we caught yesterday. We hadn't even been looking for him when he simply walked into the restaurant we were eating at. Who would have thought that we would be the one to kill Mizuki?"

Shino raised an eyebrow, though it was hard to see under his hood. "Mizuki? I see, so he went rogue. This must be why he wasn't present during our graduation from the academy."

"Actually he had committed a crime the day before our graduation. He escaped prison nearly a year ago and had been on the run since." Naruto explained.

With the new information present, Shino understood the event even better. "So that's why Iruka was sad."

Naruto merely nodded before moving onto topic. "Any chance you have any free time?"

"Unfortunately not. Kurenai had asked me to gather the rest of team 8 and meet her at our training ground. I still have to inform Kiba and Hinata about this sudden event."

"Geez it seems like we never get a break." Naruto shook his head, clearly disappointed. "It seems like the only time we'll get to hang out is if we are put into the same mission again. Hahaha those were fun. We still can't believe how you-"

Naruto was interrupted by the glare his friend was giving him.

Shino's glare hadn't lessoned but he began to speak in a whispered tone. "As friends we promised to keep each others secrets."

Naruto merely nodded before dropping the subject. The fact that Shino was aware of his symbiote thanks to the bugs swarming inside his body. The insects could not properly identify what Naruto's clothes were but they could determine the fact that they were alive and sentient.

During one of their missions together, Naruto had discovered that Shino had a sense of humor and had aided their client in pranking his fake funeral. Naruto had joked about spreading the news of Shino's secret humor, but the insect user had decided to reveal that he knew of Naruto's secret.

It was a mixture of respect and blackmail that the two decided to keep their secrets or Shino's continual decision to not speak about Naruto's.

"As friends." Naruto repeated to show that he understood what Shino was talking about.

Shino nodded in appreciation. "I still need to get home and put away these groceries. Then I need to contact my-"he stopped before fully addressing Naruto. "I hope I'm not asking too much, but I'm running late and the Hyuga compound is far from the Aburame. Could you by chance stop by there and inform Hinata in the change of schedule?" **(3)**

"No problem!" Naruto responded.

He prepared to leap away when a thought crossed his mind. "Hey Shino." He waited till he had Shino's full attention before continuing. "Do you see anyone specifically looking at _US_?" he asked accentuating the word us to point out that he meant himself.

While Naruto didn't turn his head, Shino looked around. His eyes scanned the crowds and alleyways to see if he could catch anyone taking more than normal interest in Naruto. He saw a head of purple hair followed by a tan trench coat dive into a store but couldn't identify the person as a stalker or not.

"I don't see anyone giving you a peculiar stare, but if you believe that you are being followed then you should be careful." Shino cautioned.

"Thanks we will." Naruto said while looking around and leaping towards the roof of the nearest building.

* * *

><p>'Damn he can move!' Anko thought to herself as she struggled to both keep up with Naruto and prevent herself from being spotted.<p>

What had begun as a simple trick to catch Naruto off guard had turned to full stalking. With time to kill and finding much entertainment in stealthily following him, Anko continued chasing him. She found it amazing how he was able to scale buildings and practically flew through the air using his webbing. The knowledge of his chakra sensing skills was the only thing stopping her from using the natural energy source to speed up. More than a few times she had to take shortcuts to catch up.

Finally they had made it to the extravagant gates to the Hyuga compound. Only to Anko's irritation that Naruto turned right around and headed off to a new destination as quick as he came. It was only sheer luck that Naruto left in the opposite direction.

Once more they stopped, much to Anko's relieve as she needed the time to catch her breathe. A clothing store was her current hiding spot and the A/C felt refreshing. Her years of training had helped greatly, but the speed and non-stop motion that Naruto had moved at had pushed her to her limits, add the fact that Konoha while still a village was massive in size only made things worse.

Across from the store that she was in was Naruto approaching Hinata, who had walked out of a cinnamon roll bakery. Once again the emotions that had occurred earlier in the day stirred once more. The way Naruto had eyed Hinata bothered her. His eyes had traveled up and down the Hyuga heir, taking in all the changes puberty had rewarded her with. The sight of Naruto's lips pursed up and the high pitch whistle that followed had not only turned Hinata beet red, but had caused one of the emotions inside Anko to flare.

She suddenly turned to one of the full body mirrors inside the store and observed her figure, stretching her body in ways to bring more attention to her female assets.

'Hah what am I worrying about? I've got nothing to be jea-je-j.' Anko's eyes widened as she realized what she was doing while her mind froze at the word that crossed her mind.

She didn't want to even think about the word as it only created more questions. Unfortunately she had identified another one of the emotions that had been plaguing her.

'Jealousy.'

Her mind reeled as she thought about the one word that only complicated her situation.

'What do I have to be jealous about?' her thoughts screamed. 'It's not like he and I are….. I mean he's ….. and I'm….'

She thought about her friendship with Naruto. How he was one of the few people she could have an amusing conversation with, how she felt lonelier than ever when she didn't spend time with him for prolonged amounts of time, and how she felt slightly betrayed by how he was eying other women. This confused her. She never realized how much she enjoyed his appraising eyes.

'I…. I can't feel….. intimacy for him….. Our age…. He's… just a f…. friend.' she thought to herself in denial.

Anko peeled her attention away from the mirror in time to see a blushing Hinata give a slight bow before leaving. Despite her uncertainty and conflicting feelings Anko followed once more.

* * *

><p>She closed the door behind her, feet nearly dragging as she made her way to her bedroom. Once Anko was inside she allowed herself to fall onto her bed. Mental exhaustion finally caught up with her. Though she had identified the emotions inside of her it did little to lesson the strain.<p>

She was still in denial after Naruto and Hinata had parted ways. Once more they were headed towards Anko's apartment. But just like before Naruto was interrupted by others that he was acquainted with such as Team guy or his old team. It wasn't till Naruto had come into contact with Temari and Shikamaru that Anko came to terms with her feelings.

The two didn't flirt nor did they make an attempt to impress the other. What did make her uncomfortable was how comfortable the two were around each other. Neither minded the invasion of personal space and merely acted like nothing happened when one of their arms grazed or bumped the other. No facial twitch, reddening cheeks, or any show of annoyance.

This spoke volumes to Anko. It told her that the two had gone past the point of being simple couple, that they had been intimate in the most physical manner. It was here that Anko realized that she cherished Naruto as more than a friend. She was jealous of the attention he gave other women, paranoid of losing him to another, and terrified of being left alone again.

Anko gave up her game. Leaving in favor of not discovering that one of her doubts may prove true.

So here she was, laying face down on her bed. Too tired from the revelation she had discovered today to do anything.

'I'm so stupid.' she chastised herself.

It didn't stop with her mere declaration as she continued to tick off why. 'He grew up. He became a hot blooded, handsome man. Someone that would want companionship and had plenty of women that are willing to return that yearning.'

Anko unknowingly curled up on her bed. 'What am I supposed to do?' she desperately asked herself.

'I-I-I don't know whether I should be more ashamed of wanting to be more than friends with someone who is technically a teenager or embarrassed that it took me this long to discover these feelings.'

"_**Knock Knock Knock!"**_

Anko ignored who ever was banging on her door. The person knocked once more and Anko did little more than glance towards the general direction of her apartment door.

"_**BAM!" **_Anko nearly fell off her bed from the sound of someone angrily kicking her door or so she assumed.

* * *

><p>It had taken him forever but Naruto had eventually made it to Anko's apartment. After being informed by his old team that they would be doing an escort mission together tomorrow, Naruto ran into Temari only to be told that she was the escort thanks to Gaara's caution after the attempt on his life from Akatsuki. He didn't mind the mission, in fact he was looking forward to spending time with Temari again, but he did wish that the news had come at a better time.<p>

Regardless, he was finally at his destination and he planned to make full use of the rest of the day.

"_**Knock Knock Knock" **_

He gave Anko enough time to answer the door before knocking once more. When he didn't hear any signs of life, his irritation got the best of him, leading him to kicking the door out of frustration.

"Dammit!"

Naruto was about to walking away when he heard scurrying inside and the door nearly ripped open.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU-" Anko's anger disappeared as she realized who was standing in front of her door.

"Na-Naruto. Hello." she wanted to slap herself as she recalled the fact that Naruto was initially heading to her home.

Naruto raised an eye brow. 'Anko stuttered. Alright that's weird.' "Hey Anko. Sorry we haven't stopped by but we never seemed to be in the village at the same time.'

Anko nodded. "Oh yeah." she responded, her voice seeming strange to Naruto.

"Sooo are you going to invite us in?" He asked slightly curious.

Anko snapped out of her stupor. "S-sure. Come in." she said before moving out of the way of her door frame.

Naruto walked in and made a bee line for the sofa. He took notice and worried over Anko's odd behavior.

'Why is she being so awkward towards us? She seems tired.' he mentally noted. 'Maybe she is just having a bad day or work was stressful.' he added.

"Having a bad day?" he asked.

"What?" was Anko's sudden response.

Naruto thought over his words carefully before speaking. "Are you having a bad day? You don't seem like yourself."

Anko's somewhat void tone turned glum. "You could say that."

Her voice told him it was not something she felt like discussing so he decided not to press it. It took him some time but he had eventually gotten Anko to be more talkative. Though he had succeeded it was still only small responses.

He had spent the next few hours explaining how his career was going and thankfully Anko seemed interested despite her mood. Afterwards they had turned on her TV and simply sat silently while watching anything that had caught their interest. Once more Naruto began to take notice of unusual things that Anko was doing. For one she shied away from the sitting on the sofa with him. Her energetic, screw you attitude was missing and there seemed to be a small amount of tension aimed towards him. Once again he assumed that it had to do with a bad day.

After some time Naruto used the excuse of his mission in the morning to head home. Anko, for whatever reason, needed time alone. He regretted how his time with Anko went but at the same time he understood the need to be left alone when dealing with issues.

* * *

><p>'Sigh, I'm sorry Naruto.' Anko thought to herself.<p>

It was obvious to her that Naruto had picked up that something was wrong and she was grateful that he didn't persist on it. It still didn't help how she felt worse thanks to the way she acted out of character around him, but at the same time she wasn't ready to face him much less tell him what was truly bothering her.

'Thank god he's going on that escort mission. I can use the time to…. get my head straight.' Anko thought before once more collapsing on her bed, this time drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Day<strong>

Team seven and Temari vaulted from tree branch to tree branch as they made there way towards Suna. Despite attempts to start a conversation from Team seven to Naruto the group traveled in silence. Naruto was in a unsocial mood, a little troubled with how his evening with Anko went, and made no attempt to participate in the conversation unless directly spoken to. Temari had participated but seemed partial to talking with Naruto.

After several miles Naruto suddenly stopped and dropped his pack.

"We'll camp here for tonight and continue traveling tomorrow a few hours before dawn." he ordered before unpacking and setting up a tent.

'Ok who made him team leader?' Kakashi asked himself, not truly bothered by Naruto's decision although curious.

Sakura seemed to be the only one to question his authority. "Ok what's going on? We have plenty of time before the sun sets."

Naruto's response was quick and informal. "Deserts hot, don't want to travel in it while the suns up for too long."

What he didn't tell them was that while the heat would be highly uncomfortable for them, it was going to be roasting him thanks to his symbiote's weakness to fire. It was one thing to be within the walls of Suna where plenty of shade was present and the walls themselves protected him from the wind that only bathed him in hotter air.

Sakura made to bring up another argument, but Temari chose to interrupt.

"The desserts of the land of wind can be very unbearable during the day. We're near the border, so if we head out before the sun rises then we may be able reach Suna before it gets too hot."

"So why don't we simply cross it during the night?" Sakura innocently asked.

Temari chuckled at her ignorance. "Because the dessert is freezing at night. We wouldn't make it half way before we gave into pneumonia."

"Oh." Sakura simply said before helping her sensei set up camp.

Later that night the four were gathered around a fire as they ate their rations. Naruto's mood had improved and the others began to feel more comfortable with small talk.

"So Naruto, how are you so familiar with the deserts of the lands of wind?" Sakura asked.

Naruto swallowed a portion of his ration bar before answering. "We spent some of our time in Suna."

"Yeah it wasn't until a few months ago that he left us." Temari added.

"Us?" Kakashi asked with his only visible brow raised.

Naruto allowed Temari to answer in his stead. "During Naruto's training trip, he left Jiraiya to go train on his own. One day he showed up in Suna. Afterwards we all got to know each other and he stayed with me and my family till he left to return to Konoha."

"Now that I think about it Jiraiya did admit to being ditched." Kakashi stated.

"Why did you leave Jiraiya?" Sakura asked with shock and confusion plastered on her face.

Naruto shook his head. "We were learning more on our own." he simply stated.

After finishing their ration bars Kakashi began setting watch rotation.

"I'll take first watch, then I would like Naruto to take second shift, afterwards Sakura will take watch then Temari if that's ok with you?" he asked the sand kunoichi.

Temari thought over the rotation for a second before answering. "Actually if it's ok with Sakura I would like to take the watch before the last."

The pinkete was curious about the switch but made no argument. With the rotation agreed upon, Kakashi took his perch on one of the many tree limbs and began his. The peace and quite didn't last long as Sakura's screaming burst forth.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN OUR TENT NARUTO?"

Kakashi looked towards one of the three tents. Movement was seen occurring in the last tent toward the right before Naruto was seen flying out of it.

Naruto quickly stood up shortly afterwards. "She didn't just kick us out!" A few seconds passed before he turned towards the tent. "Oh hell no, she didn't just kick us out!"

Kakashi watched with humor as the scene played out. He watched Naruto reenter the tent, heard Sakura squeak a protest, then saw her thrown out.

Sakura got up and tried to repeat Naruto's action only for Temari to block her entrance.

"Hey what the?"

"We set up this tent. We are definitely not going to be kicked out of it." Naruto stated before getting comfortable in his sleeping bag.

Sakura wasn't finished. "Men and women are supposed to sleep in separate tents."

"Says who?" Temari asked. "As long as I can trust the man sleeping in my tent I don't mind."

Sakura simply stayed knelt in front of the tent's opening as she processed this information. The stupefied look finally fell from her face as she accepted the circumstances.

"Fine Fine, I guess I can trust Na- Oph" Once more Sakura was pushed out of the tent.

She looked up only to find Temari chuckling as she zipped up the tent opening. "Sorry. While I don't mind sharing, this tent is crowded enough with just the two of us."

Sakura shook her head before entering one of the other tents.

With the event over Kakashi turned his attention back to the surrounding forest. Eventually he pulled out his green Icha Icha book and began reading to pass the time. Kakashi chuckled as he recalled the wave mission and how Naruto had stolen his Icha Icha book that day.

Time passed on as he stayed vigilant on his watch while enjoying his adult literature.

"Oooh…. haaahn. Ahh..Harder!"

'Hehehehe oh Kimi- wait a second! I didn't read that line.' Kakashi thought to himself.

His neck creakingly turned towards the direction the noise came from. Eventually his vision settled on the tent Naruto and Temari occupied.

* * *

><p><strong>"(Due to the site managers insistance I have been forced to remove the lemon that used to be here. Considering that ChronoMitsurugi wished for this fanfic to be banned due to this scene I can't help but think that heshe had something to do with this. If that's the case all I can say is HAH the rules allow me to imply that sex occured)**

The two lay naked upon their sleeping bags, sweat glistening their bodies and mouthes slightly open, releasing and caputring much needed air.

The Temari snuggled closer to the Naruto, content with the feel of his body pressed against hers. The symbiote host snaked an arm around her waist to ensure that she didn't roll away in the midst of their sleep. He loved the feel of a woman's bare body, and he enjoyed waking up to the feeling even more.

Realizing that his turn was quickly arriving, Naruto decided to stay awake instead of catching only a hand full of sleep.

"I missed you." Temari seductively admitted.

Naruto chuckled. "We've missed you too."

"It's a shame that you don't come by Suna more often." she stated.

"You know we can barely handle the journey through the desert on our own. It was only thanks to a passing squad of Genin that found us the first time that we didn't become a charbroiled corpse." Naruto said jokingly.

Temari chuckled. "I remember that day. You were dehydrated, feverish, and sun burned to the point of mimicking a lobster. You know…. I could always move to Konoha."

Naruto shook his head. "We've told you before. We won't separate you from your family. Besides, we both know that this… relationship is mostly physical."

Temari's fingers dragged along his chest and past his abs. "Mmmmmmm I can't say you are wrong."

The sand Kunoichi suddenly brought herself up, straddling Naruto's hips once more. "Speaking of physical, any chance you have enough _stamina _for round two."

Naruto's erection was a clear answer to her question but his groan told her otherwise. "It's almost our turn to be look out."

Temari pouted as she realized he was right. "Fine, but after my shift we finish where we left off." she said as she ground her hips against erection.

Naruto simply gazed at Temari's tan body, admiring her smooth stomach, the handful size breasts the hovered above, and the animalistic grin marled on her face.

Placing his hands behind his head, Naruto got into a relaxed pose before uttering an acquaintance's phrase. "Troublesome."

The laughter that erupted from Temari couldn't have been held back even if she tried.

* * *

><p>Naruto emerged from his tent, shirtless to Kakashi's ire.<p>

"Sooooo-"

"None of your damn business!" Naruto roughly interrupted.

The rude response shocked Kakashi. "Well you certainly made it my business and possibly Sakura who was sleeping in the tent next to yours."

Naruto didn't say anything, it was nothing personal against Kakashi but he didn't want his business spread around Konoha. He didn't care what the majority of Konoha thought of him, but he did care what they thought of Temari.

She was someone he respected. Someone that he got along with on levels that rivaled his friendship with Anko.

Ignoring Kakashi's questioning glare, Naruto grab a spot amongst the tress with the best cover. The fact that Kakashi quickly joined him only continued to irritate him.

"You're not going to let this go." Naruto plainly stated.

"Well you're having blissful adventures with our client." he dully stated. "I feel as team captain that I'm entitled to some explanation."

Naruto stayed silent, contemplating between talking and kicking his ex-teacher's ass again. "We are just friends, with very enjoyable benefits. There is nothing more that you need to know."

The copy nin considered pushing for more info but quickly decided against it when his shirtless subordinate pushed him off the tree branch.

Finally alone, Naruto's thoughts drifted off in several directions. He thought about how cool the night air felt against his skin, the amazing way Temari turned him on, and finally the worry he felt for Anko. While he respected Anko's decision to not indulge him in her problems, Naruto also worried about her. Anko didn't act anything like she usually did. Something was bothering her greatly, that much was for sure, but what was beyond him.

As time passed by Naruto tried to deduce what could have possibly upset Anko. But with nothing more than her awkwardness, sad demeanor, and lack of attitude, he couldn't think of anything. Finally his turn was over and he switched places with Temari. Sleeping in her sleeping bag while she took up his branch.

* * *

><p><strong>Back In KonohaAnko's apartment**

Her television was on, though she wasn't paying attention. Anko lay across her sofa as she thought over her dilemma.

Despite the many days Naruto had been gone, Anko still had yet to find the answers she needed. Her main problem was the lack of people she could seek out for advice. Sarutobi Hiruzen was one of the few people she felt comfortable enough to talk with about her troubles. But the old man had passed on several years ago.

There was her co-worker Ibiki Morino, but in truth she wanted a woman's advice. She was sure that any man would simply tell her to grant the wish of many teenage boys and screw him. Unfortunately Anko couldn't think of any female co-worker or friend that she trusted. That only left her with acquaintances.

Oddly enough Shizune, the mousy assistant of the Hokage appeared as an option.

"As if I need my boss finding out."

Another woman entered her mind that had large glasses with circular frames that somehow had spirals in the lens.

"Only I know nothing of the women other than she worked in Intelligence."

Kurenai entered her thoughts. It was rumored that the proud kunoichi had hooked up with the son of the third Hokage.

"Maybe she'll understand."

The more Anko thought about it, the more it seemed like Kurenai was her best option. With that thought in mind, Anko left her apartment only to walk five doors down. Another factor in her decision was the fact that they were actually close neighbors.

She knocked on Kurenai's door and waited for the women to answer. The door opened to reveal a confused Kurenai. Her hair was more wild than usual and her red nightgown was covered a by a white bath robe for modesty.

Anko was quick to chuckle before apologizing. "Sorry I've been dealing with some problems and I forgot what time it was."

"What do you want Anko?" Kurenai asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her crimson eyes.

"That problem I was talking about…. I need help, and… I don't know who to turn to."

Kurenai's face turned to worry. Though she wasn't friends with Anko she could tell the fact that she was far out of character.

"Come in."

Anko hesitated only a moment before accepting the invitation. Once inside Kurenai led her to the kitchen and prepared a pot of tea. Both sat at the square table near the corner of the room while they waited for the tea to finish.

Once the beverages were placed on the table the two were ready. Anko still hadn't said anything and Kurenai was truly beginning to worry over her fellow kunoichi.

"So you said you had a problem." Kurenai stated in hope of breaking the ice.

"I do." Anko replied.

Kurenai gave her guest a few seconds to continue before starting again.

"What exactly is the problem?"

It was easy to walk over here, talking seemed impossible to Anko now.

"I… discovered… that I… have feelings for a man."

Silence filled the air as Kurenai simply stared at Anko. "Really?" she asked painfully plain before continuing. "And what seems to be the problem?"

Anko debated with herself before speaking. "He's…. He's…. Dammit he's seventeen years old!"

"Oh!" Kurenai blurted, understanding of Anko's reserved behavior settling in.

"So how strong are you're feelings for him?" Kurenai asked.

Once more Anko found herself fighting to speak. "Strong enough that I locked myself in my apartment when I thought about him dating another girl."

Kurenai's face took on a thoughtful look. "Does he know of your feelings?"

"HELL NO!... I mean, I didn't even know about my feelings till a couple of day's ago." afterwards Anko avoided eye contact, taking more interest in the tea she hadn't even touched.

"I see." Kurenai stated. "Do you at least have some form of relationship?"

Anko's response was meek at best. "We are just friends."

The two stayed silent while they finally began to drink their tea. Anko finally opened her mouth after what seemed like hours.

"What should I do?"

"How should I know?" Kurenai simply asked.

Anko stared at Kurenai as if she slapped her. "W-What?"

Kurenai gave Anko an apologetic smile. "I've never been in your situation before. The best I can tell you to do is confess to him."

The doubtful look on Anko's face was only matched by the dry chuckle that escaped her lips. "That's it. Just confess. It's not that simple."

Kurenai sighed. "Of course it is."

"NO ITS NOT!" Anko screamed. "After Orochimaru betrayed me I couldn't find it in myself to trust anyone. I've been so afraid of betrayal that I've rarely opened up to anyone. What if I do confess? What am I supposed to do if he becomes repulsed by the fact that someone of my age has the hots for him!"

It was never her intention to spew her fears to Kurenai, but at the same time she didn't come here to be told something she already knew. Being told the obvious just set something off in her.

Kurenai for her part patiently waited for Anko's rant before talking once more.

"Either you confess and risk losing him or simply stay friends while watching as he flirts with other women. Do you really want to stand back and watch as he dates other girls, eventually gets married and another women has his children just because you were too scared to leave the friend zone?"

Anko knew she was right, but she wanted a solution not an ultimatum.

Seeing that she wasn't going to get the advice she sought, Anko prepared to leave.

"Thank you Kurenai, but it is getting late."

"It's already late." Kurenai chuckled as she lead Anko to the door. "I'm sorry I couldn't help but this is something that you have to figure out for yourself."

Anko merely nodded as she made her way back to her apartment.

* * *

><p><strong>Five days later<strong>

Team seven plus Naruto walked up the stairs of the Hokage tower as they made to their way to Tsunade's office. The debriefing for their mission had gone uneventful save for the way Kakashi tried to hint about Naruto's and Temari's exploration of each other. His remark was rewarded with a quick elbow to the ribs courtesy of Naruto.

On his way out of the office, Naruto was stopped by Shizune of all people.

"Heh what's up Shizune?"

The Hokage's assistant didn't say anything till Team seven left. "Anko came by here asking when you would return. Poor woman was so…. just looked so horrible that Lady Tsunade gave her a few days off."

'What's wrong with you Anko?' Naruto thought to himself.

Shizune continued on. "You should go by and check on her."

"We will. Thank you for informing us." Naruto said before making his way towards a nearby window.

Opening the window, he crawled through and shot a string of symbiote to connect to a near building before allowing gravity to swing him forward.

* * *

><p><strong>Anko's apartment<strong>

It only took a few minutes for Naruto to arrive at his destination. A quick, hard knock on the door and Naruto didn't even wait for permission to walk in once Anko opened the door. Anko was confused and almost slammed the intruder against the ground before throwing him out until she saw who said intruder was.

"Naruto! It's good to see you." she said weakly, too unprepared to speak confidently.

Naruto took notice of her tone. "Anko what's wrong?" he asked bluntly

He respected her privacy, but the fact that whatever was bothering her hadn't been solved in the near week he had been gone told him that this wasn't something she could take care of on her own.

Anko tried to find her voice, but no matter how many times she opened her mouth, nothing came out.

Naruto quickly grew irritated. "Someone close to you died? Do you have something to hide? Has someone been blackmailing you?"

"What! No! Why would you ask that?" Anko wondered, the questions surprising her.

"Because something is obviously bothering you and the Anko we know wouldn't be bothered by anything else."

Anko's eyes narrowed. "The Anko you know? What the hell do you mean by that?' she said in a near hiss, her previous trouble forgotten for the moment.

"Yeah the Anko we know is strong, feisty. Our friend wouldn't be acting like this timid, nervous, GIRL! She wouldn't have sat around for a week straight and moped." Naruto stated.

Anko suddenly slammed Naruto against the door he had just walked through. Her hands were still gripping his jacket as she snarled at him.

"How dare you barge into my home, talk down to me, and then insult me without even giving me a chance to explain."

Naruto didn't back down. "Well if this weak little girl would just spit it out then we wouldn't have to insult her."

Another growl was elicited from Anko's throat.

'Yes that's right. Yell at us, hit us, do something that only Anko would dare do to us.'

He observed as her eyes became predatory and braced himself in preparation.

"Mfph"

Naruto had expected many things to happen. Being kneed in the balls, slapped across the face, and even kicked through the door. What he didn't expect was for his friend to slam her body against his and press their lips together in a hungry kiss.

"What the hell?" Naruto yelled once their lips were apart.

Anko looked away after she separated from him. She was waiting on him to insult her again or just leave altogether. When no sign of disgust occurred she finally looked at him to be met by shocked eyes, not disgusted, simply surprised.

"I like you." she merely stated.

"We… see this." was Naruto response, still too surprised to ask the questions that were floating in his mind.

They stayed silent for several minutes as Naruto hadn't found the voice for his questions and Anko refused to speak. Neither new why, but they eventually made their way to the sofa, not sitting next to each and at the same time only allowing enough room between them that seemed respectable.

"So how long have you….. liked us?" He finally asked.

"Since last week."

Naruto simply stared at Anko with a blank look. Eventually she understood that he was waiting for her to further explained.

"I followed you last week in order to play a joke on you, instead I never got to because of how upset I was in the end."

Confusion came over Naruto as he tried to think of anything he could have done that would bother Anko. Aside from having sex with Temari which Anko wasn't present to watch he couldn't think of anything.

"What bothered you so much?"

Anko gave him a deadpanned response. "You, flirting with all the women of Konoha. And the way you were eying them all. You practically undressed Hinata with your eyes" 'Or at least imagined her in a skin tight suit.' she thought to herself.

Naruto chuckled to himself. 'We just imagined her without that hoodie on.' Another thought occurred to him. "You got jealous!"

Anko made no move to deny his sudden statement. Instead she merely blushed and slammed one of her heels at his thigh. Naruto grunted from the quick shot of pain but otherwise started laughing. Once his laughter died down Anko voiced the question she truly needed answered.

"So… you haven't done or said anything to let me know about how you feel….. about this."

Naruto thought over the situation, absent mindedly stroking the leg Anko had yet to remove from his thigh. "We honestly haven't thought about a relationship with you."

It stung Anko to hear that, but in all fairness neither had she before a week ago.

"The thought of dating doesn't sound bad. Sounds nice in a strange way." he admitted

This perked up Anko's mood. "So our age difference doesn't bother you?"

He chuckled at this. "Maybe if you were old enough to be our mother, but at best you're an older sister. Besides it's not like we are short, three years ago would have been strange."

"Yeah." Anko immediately agreed, a slight shiver running through her body.

A comfortable silence filled the room. The tension that filled Anko was replaced by comfort thanks to Naruto's acceptance. Their positions had changed to a small degree on the sofa thanks to Anko relaxed body. She lay across the couch, her legs no longer planted in Naruto's thigh and instead resting across his lap. Naruto was still content with rubbing the length of her leg.

"So what now?" Anko suddenly asked.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "We eat out, go to movies, date, and see where it goes from there.

Anko nodded in agreement. "Mmmmmmm. Hey watch where that hand goes!"

Naruto quickly removed his hand that had found its way going up Anko's thigh

"…Sorry."

* * *

><p>Author's note: Holy crap this was a pain to write. It wasn't so much the lack of time as it was the worry of writing Anko out of character. I felt that this kind of relationship coupled with Anko's past needed a strange start. I felt that drama was something that couldn't be avoided and so I tried to realistically describe how Anko's insecurities played in the start of her finding out that she felt for Naruto more than she initially thought. Like I said before, I wanted the start to be strange and drama filled, so having Naruto realize his feelings first wasn't a possiblilty as he would have simply said "Fuck it" and "let's see where things go, which I hope that I conveyed well enough in the chapter.<p>

**1. Naruto's hunter nin outfit was based off of Flash Thompsons (6th host) Venom suit with key features from Eddie Brocks (2nd Host) Venom suit such as eyes, mouth and symbol.**

**2. This is both the voice produced thanks to the fact that Naruto is currently using the symbiote mouth to talk through.**

**3. Don't know the real distance between the Aburame and Hyuga compounds. But for the sake of plot they are far from each other in this story. **


	11. Chapter 11:Dating

**Along Came a Symbiote**

**Author's Note: As I'm sure that you are aware of there are Author's posting up notices explaining about how the managers of the site is cracking down and that we need to start petitions and such to make them realize that this is a mistake. I agree but unlike them I didn't want the spam the site with updated stories just so people would become aware, at least not without posting an actual chapter. I find it annoying as I'm looking through updated stories only to find oh it's not an update it's a Chapter AU. I've been doing my part by going in my past chapters and editing out the things that the managers are deleting stories for and warning other Authors to do the same through a PM or review. Hopefully this will blow over and things go back to normal.**

Chapter 11: Dating

* * *

><p><em>Three weeks after last chapter<em>

**Land of Sound/Random Oto base**

The grey halls seemed covered in a continuous design of swirls wrapping themselves along the ceiling and floor. Small candles set along the walls illuminated the area and gave them an orange tint. Though peculiar, the halls were easily ignored in favor of the numerous bodies strewn across them

"_Scrch"_

Naruto dropped the sound nin after breaking his neck, fully garbed in his hunter nin attire. After using the Yamanaka mind reading jutsu, Naruto discovered the location to one of Orochimaru's bases, or more important the whereabouts of one of the snake nins prized experiments. The particular experiment taking place inside the base was the possible revival of the Kaguya bloodline.

He had snuck in, stealthily assassinating guards as he needed to. But there was only so long he could go unseen before the base was aware of an intruder and went to full alert. At this point he had forgone stealth and simply killed all those brave enough to fight him. If he had simply come to destroy the experiment then this would have been unnecessary. But to prevent the experiment from rising again it was necessary to kill the scientist responsible for working on it as well.

The scientists had been the first to die, a reasonable decision as they would have been the first to flee. After killing them, Naruto performed another mind read to locate the notes and the experiment itself.

'How is it that someone like Orochimaru has gained so many who are willing to die for him?' Naruto asked himself as he walked closer to his destination.

* * *

><p>After destroying the experiment and the laboratory along with it, Naruto made his way back to Konoha, swing from tree to tree. He was satisfied and excited at the same time. Satisfied that he could be a thorn in the Snake Sanin's side and excited that today was his and Anko's date night. Once he came within walking distance of Konoha's gates, Naruto dropped down, choosing to walk the last of the distance.<p>

The two leaf nin currently guarding the gate saw Naruto drop down and waited patiently for the black clad nin to close the distance between them.

"Hello Venom, any luck in your hunting?" asked the guard to the left.

"Not this time." he lied, not wanting to divulge his personal agenda.

"That's a shame. Well you know the drill." stated the guard on the right.

Naruto nodded while pulling out the necessary documents to prove who he was.

After looking over the documents and insuring they were authentic, the two guards allowed Naruto through the gates.

He made a bee line for Konoha's Intelligence department. His reputation allowed him entrance without too much fuss. Though he did have to show his documents once more to get further access to the Torture division. He made his way through until he saw the person he was looking for. All sound he made disappeared as he snuck up behind her.

Naruto wrapped his arms around Anko and pulled her back towards him.

"Hey there!"

Anko merely turned her chestier smile covered face to look him in the eyes. Or she would if he wasn't still wearing a mask.

"You know you shouldn't still be wearing that while hugging me. You'll compromise your identity… Venom." she stated while using his code name.

"Look around, nobody gives a damn about what we're doing." was his cheeky response.

Anko looked around the busy office, watching as ninjas either worked at their desk or entered and exited from various rooms. 'He's right.'

"You still shouldn't."

Naruto chuckled in her ear. "We still set for tonight?" he asked ignoring her previous statement.

Anko stretched in his grip while pulling him closer to her. "Depends. What time are you going to pick me up?"

"Oh so we have to pick you up?" he asked in fake arrogance.

"Of course." was her humored response.

Naruto thought for a second, considering everything before setting his own time limit. 'Need a bath, time to buy some clothes, decide on where to eat and make a reservation if necessary.'

"How does nine sound?"

"Awfully late." she noted.

"Welllll." he dragged out. "We need time to prepare. What with our uncertain lives and all."

Anko nodded at this before declaring something she noticed earlier. "You reek of blood."

He sniffed himself and realized that the metallic scent did indeed cling to him. "A shower was part of the plan.

"Skip the shower." she said sensually, her eyes closed as she focused on the smell. "MMmmmmmm."

A shudder coursed through Naruto as he was reminded of Anko's bloodlust. 'We come home reeking of death and she's turned on. Should have thought of dating Anko months ago.'

"You two done?"

Naruto and Anko' heads jerked towards Ibiki as he stared each of them down, neither having noticed him thanks to their moment.

"What?" Naruto asked with defiance.

Ibiki simply shook his head, a smile hidden in the shadows. "Please choose another place to express yourselves." with that said Ibiki made to leave the room.

"Fine, we'll use your office!" Naruto shouted.

Ibiki flinched before sending them a glare.

Anko was too busy laughing to care while Naruto continued talking. "Heard he got a new desk anyway." he joked.

The blood loving women in his arms laughed louder while Ibiki simply slammed the door.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Naruto's Apartment8:24 PM**

Buttoning up his white dress shirt, Naruto stared into the full body mirror while he prepared for his date. Why he didn't simply alter his symbiote was due to the fact that Anko had actually convinced him to sleep over after their last date, though nothing happened between them other than sharing a bed. The last thing he needed was for Anko to begin questioning why she never found any clothes he wore the night before. A show of respect for their expensive date was a bonus in his opinion as well.

After checking that his shirt was fully buttoned up including the cuffs of his sleeves and tucking his shirt in, Naruto pulled on the next piece of his clothes set, a blue vest. Once he finished buttoning up his vest, Naruto checked everything one last time. The black dressed shoes were polished, his matching color dress pants ironed, A black tie wrapped around his neck that hid half of itself under his vest, and his medium length hair had been jelled back. Despite Anko's request, he had bathed and even put on a small bit of cologne to insure no Inuzuka could smell the traces he missed during his rushed bath.

"This is so much more of a hassle." he said as he thought about all the troubles he avoided by simply converting his symbiote's appearance.

With everything finished he walked out of his apartment and made his way to Anko's home. Once more he forgone one of his favorite habits and walked instead of web swinging. Another disadvantage of wearing clothes as the fast movement wrinkled them and risked forming tears.

Though he couldn't feel the wind in his face and it took him twenty extra minutes to reach his destination, Naruto didn't truly mind the walk. Once reaching the door to Anko's apartment, he knocked on the door and waited to be shown a beautiful sight. Anko opened the door wearing a black, sleeveless, one piece dress that stopped just a little before her knees. A red belt wrapped around her waist and she wore dark vermillion high heels. Additionally her ever apparent snake fang necklace hung around her neck and brown stockings were worn underneath her dress. The spiky pony tail was absent, allowing the back of her hair to rest slightly past her shoulder line though the front was hardly changed. Her lips shined with red lipstick and a tint of pink blush had been applied to her cheeks.

"Damn!" Naruto whispered, a smile plastered on his face while he stared at her.

"So." Anko said to snap him out of his lust filled gaze. "You going to escort me or are you simply going to eat me with your eyes?"

"Why can't we do both?" he honestly asked.

Anko chuckled before closing her door. "Well lead the way." she said before holding up her hand.

Naruto took the offered hand and began leading her along to the destination of the first part of their date. They walked in silence, content with merely basking in the night atmosphere. Few people walked along the streets, but those that did gave a brief glance to the couple before returning to their own business. The silence didn't merely pertain to them either as a lack of sound was present all around.

It was at this time that Naruto wondered if his dress shoes were making more noise against the brick streets than Anko's high heels.

Finally the restaurant came into view and the two entered. The outside of the building was a common tan but the walls inside were a rose red with azure blue carpets. Wooden panels covered doorways and windows with creamy white veils teasing the people outside to obscured glimpses.

In front of a set of double doors was a finely dressed man standing behind a podium. The black podium held an open notebook with several names, some eligible.

"Uzumaki, party of 2." Naruto said once he and Anko were standing before the man.

The man looked over the notebook, dragging his finger down the page before finally stopping. "Ah there is a reservation here but you were scheduled for half an hour ago."

"And?" Naruto asked, slightly irritated with the man's indifferent tone.

"I'm sorry but the reservation is no longer available."

Reaching across the podium and strangling the man, the urge was strong, only the fact that this was a date stopped Naruto. A date was supposed to be different, something not done all the time and meant to be enjoyable all the same. Wearing expensive clothes, eating at rich restaurants, not dragging the waiter out back while beating him till he represented the undead.

Anko looked shocked at Naruto's hesitation, almost committing the act that lingered around Naruto's mind.

Naruto's next words would only stall Anko; it was up to the man himself if he lived to see another day.

"Are there any openings?" he asked though glaring the entire time.

The man looked through the notebook once more, flipping pages while dully repeating the process of scrolling through each page. Their hands still linked, Naruto felt Anko's grip tightening, possible turning her knuckles white though neither could tell as they continued to stare at the waiter with barely held back rage.

"Ah yes we do have one."

"Then what's the problem?" Anko asked through gritted teeth.

"Well I guess there isn't one."

The man's saving grace was the very button he pressed followed by the waitress that came through the doors.

"Follow me please." She asked in the kindest voice either had heard all day.

With this the two were finally seated and waiting for their drinks and dishes to arrive.

"Can you believe that menu? I wouldn't know what half of these things were if not for the description." Anko joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Naruto nodded, a smile forming on his face. "Yeah, there was barely anything on the menu as well."

Anko laughed. "its nice though." she commented while fingering the gold colored table cloth.

"Yeah." Naruto agreed. A thought crossed his mind as he looked for a more lasting conversation. "We never asked you what happened during the three years we were gone."

Anko thought over the last three years for anything memorable. "Nothing much. I did my job, watched a few Genin piss themselves in my forest during the Chunin exam, and it became public that Kurenai and Asuma were dating."

"That last part wasn't about you." Naruto pointed out.

Anko merely shrugged her shoulders. "My life just wasn't eventful. Hell my life before you left was more eventful. I fought Orochimaru, met you."

"We see. So things are better when we're around." He cheekily said.

"I wouldn't consider a fight with Orochimaru a good thing, but things are more fun when you're here."

A waiter came by and brought them their pre-dish salads. They thanked the waiter before digging in.

"So what was your relationship with the princess of Suna?"

Anko sudden question broke the silence rather abruptly.

"What?" Naruto's mind couldn't process anything else.

"Your relationship with Temari of the sand. I know there was something between you two, I'm just curious about it." Anko explained.

The symbiote host felt uncomfortable answering the question, had anyone else asked he would simply repeat the event with Kakashi and let them know it wasn't there business while lying. But his relationship with Anko made things different, gave her a right to know certain parts of his life. Of course things like his symbiote would remain a secret.

"Us and Temari hooked up shortly after we arrived in Suna. We respected each other and found each other attractive. After a few dates we discovered that we had more in common than we first thought and nearly month later we began growing closer."

Anko listened patiently as Naruto went on.

"We grew so close that we felt comfortable in experimenting with sex, it was a new experience for us both. But after a while we realized that things wouldn't work out between us and we broke up."

"What caused this realization?" Anko curiously asked.

Naruto thought for a moment. "The distance." he finally said. "Even before we left Suna a tension formed between us and Temari. Finally we figured out that it was anxiety setting in at the inevitable fact that we would have to return to Konoha settled in."

"That'll do it." Anko stated. 'I really came close to having my fears come true.'

* * *

><p>After their discussion of Naruto's past relationship they talked about other, less personal topics. Eventually the meals arrived and the two focused on enjoying the rich dishes. Once they were finished, Naruto paid for the meals and the two left. The meal was enjoyable, and the conversations they had helped them understand one another better. But there had been a mood that had rose in the air. It made them feel…. unusual. As if something wasn't right.<p>

After leaving the restaurant the two began strolling around the commercial districts of Konoha, trying to find something of interest before calling it a day.

"There's a karaoke bar over there." Anko pointed out.

Naruto's face grimaced. He had visited one before out of curiosity, only for him and his symbiote to twitch and spasm from the novices messing up or the microphone they were using let off a high pitch squeal.

"Do either of us know how to sing?" Naruto asked with a hint of humor.

Anko laughed a little at the question. "Good point."

Naruto spied up ahead and noticed red neon around a white billboard. "How about the theatre?"

She thought about it for a split second before shaking her head. "We did that last week, and there really isn't anything I want to see."

Naruto rubbed his chin, thinking about things they could enjoy. All the while the mood they felt in the restaurant seemed to follow.

Eventually Anko stopped in front of a pearl white building with a large eye catching lighted sign. Naruto stopped with her and looked up to the sign.

"A bowling alley. You sure?" he asked slightly skeptical.

"Why not. Neither of us have done it before, it's supposed to be fun, active." Anko stated

Naruto nodded at her points only to find one flaw. "But... dressed like this." he said as he pointed to a window that reflected their image.

Anko looked at the window. Observing how they were dress and understood what Naruto meant. The clothes they wore were tight fitting and very limited in flexibility. It was then that something hit her as she took a closer look. Finally the cause of the mood became apparent as Anko didn't recognize herself in the mirror.

"Are we trying to be something we're not?" Anko asked.

Naruto's head jerked towards her, confused by the sudden question. "What makes you say that?"

"Ever since we started dating, we have been dressing up and going to fancy places."

The symbiote host looked concerned at this.

"I have enjoyed our dates, but haven't you felt like something wasn't right."

Naruto nodded. "You mean like dealing with the snobs."

Anko chuckled. "Kind of, but that's not entirely it. It just feels like we're trying to fit in somewhere we don't"

"We feel the same…. So what do we do?"

Anko stared at the window for a few seconds longer as she thought. Her eyes noticed a public rest room in the reflection and she grabbed Naruto before dragging him to it. Naruto merely followed, still waiting for his answer.

"Give me your vest." Anko suddenly commanded.

"The hell?" Naruto said while giving her a strange look.

"Oh just give it to me I'll only be a sec."

He did as Anko asked and unbuttoned his vest. She disappeared into the women's restroom once she had the article of clothing, leaving Naruto to wait. For the next twenty minutes while he paced back and forth.

'I'll just be a sec she says. Women.' he thought with sarcasm.

"So what do you think?"

Naruto turned back towards the entranced and smiled.

Her dress had been cut in half, making a fine skirt with how clean the cut itself was. Additionally two slits ran down the sides of her thighs, allowing mobility without the new skirt being cut completely in two. her red belt had been tightened to ensure her skirt wouldn't fall. The thing that saved her upper body from nudity was the very vest she had taken from Naruto. New button holes sliced in so that the article of clothing became a tighter fit, allowing her cleavage to be noticed without the possibility of her nipples being visible. The make-up had been washed off, but her stockings, high heels, and hair remained the same.

"We like it! It's definitely you." Naruto stated 'Must have hidden a kunai on herself.'

Anko smiled as she walked closer to him, only stopping till she was within arms length. "Time to fix you up."

Naruto didn't protest in the slightest as Anko began "fixing" his clothes. She started with the cuffs and unbuttoned them. Afterwards she pulled the bottom of his shirt out from underneath his pants and reach up to his collar to pull off the tie before undoing the top two buttons of his shirt. She gave him a look over to see if there was anything else she could do to make him more look like the Naruto she knew. His hair was one of the things she wanted to fix, but the harden gel prevented that. Her hazel eyes dropped from his blonde hair and down towards the visible skin of his chest thanks to the two buttons now undone. On impulse she took off her snake fang necklace and draped it around his neck. The fang rested in the opening of his shirt and added to the feeling that he was dressed for a date.

"I'm only letting you borrow that alright." Anko stated.

Naruto nodded before following Anko to the bowling alley. Before they entered, Anko stopped in front of the window again, smiling as she preferred the people she saw this time.

* * *

><p><strong>Anko's apartment 1 ½ hours later**

They laid on the coach together, content with just resting. Both had enjoyed the sport known as bowling more than they had expected and even planned to go again in the near future. The mood that haunted them on their past dates vanished thanks to Anko's epiphany. She thought about moving them to her bedroom but gave up the idea when the thought about how comfortable she was crossed her mind. The two simply laid there, slowly drifting off from the white noise the television produced.

* * *

><p>Author's note: Hope you enjoyed the chapter, not much I want to mention here other than that.<p> 


	12. My DecisionPreview

Author's Note/My Decision/Preview

I've decided to stay. I mean holy crap, I had expected so much hate mail from my last Author's note, but instead got over 30 Private Messages and Reviews asking me to stay. Some were down right heart felt. Of course there were a few who chose to simply insult me in one form or another and to them I could honestly not give shit about.

The previous Author note was meant to be a "letter of resignation". It was my way of being courteous while explaining why I was leaving. While Clone/Crap stories was one reason as to why I was planning to leave it was not the only one. Problems with my fanfic, personal life issues, etc. There were many reasons that I really didn't want to get into detail, it just so happened that crap stories were the thing that made me blow my top. I'm the type of person who bottle up their anger till it's too much and explodes.

Regardless I will stay on but I will be working on another fanfiction till I feel more in the mood to continue this one, hopefully it won't take me more than two weeks to update this one. But just to show I'm serious about continuing this fic, I'm leaving a small preview here.

Along Came a Symbiote

Chapter 12: The New Threat

Two sleeping figures lay across a green queen sized bed, the matching covers draped over them. Naruto stretched during his mild return to consciousness. A pair of pajama bottems being his only article of clothing. He reached out and pulled the other occupant on the bed closer before drifting off to slumber once more. Anko didn't resist the pull or show any signs of discomfort. Her hair undone, an over sized, black long sleeved shirt and a dark purple panty made up her physical appearance.

It became common for the two to sleep within the same bed, though this happened mostly at Anko's home due to Naruto's lack of sleeping arrangments at his.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"

Anko's eyes reluctantly creaked open. Staring at the alarm clock on the table next to Naruto that read 10:01 am in red numbers, Anko slapped the snooze button.

She had planned to catch a few more minutes of sleep till Naruto opened his mouth, groggily stating his opinion.

"Stay home, take a day off."

"Like I did yesterday?" she jokingly stated.

His eyes still closed, a smile formed on his face. "Would that be so bad?"

Anko pulled herself closer to him. "Hmmm tempting, but I have to work. Got to kill enemies, follow the Hokage's order."

"Screw work, screw bad guys, and screw the Hokage." Naruto mumbled.

The snake user laughed long and hard till she yelped thanks to the hand groping her firm ass. "Something else I'd like to screw."

Smiling, Anko moved her head closer to Naruto's; joining their lips heatedly as she wrapped her arms around him.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP-"

The moment was ruined by the alarm clocks reminder that Anko was supposed to be getting up. A quick slap against the black box expressed Anko's annoyance.


	13. Chapter 12: Nightmares

Along Came a Symbiote

Author's Note: Psudocode Samurai/ soccer-fan1/ Kishinokurobi/  
>shadows24 Leaf Ranger/ GaruAlpha/  
>Kitsunegari17 Fox Among Foxes/ Billy Buyo/  
>Senjuto AnAddictedReader/ Matchstick800/  
>Strife77 Lazyman1/2 Hail Lord Archanfel/  
>EdroGrimshell Aidis/ ElementalMaster16

And many more readers

These are the Readers and Author's who left a review and in some cases a pm back when I was contemplating about leaving the site. I mentioned this a while ago but I didn't specifically mention them. I wanted to do this because they reminded me why I began writing fanfiction in the first place. I didn't write for the masses who enjoyed fandom, I wrote for those like myself who enjoyed a well written, and thought out fanfic. Stories that were unpredictable, with enjoyable plots, and romances that didn't feel like a cheap porno. After a while I guess I just forgot, but I want to thank these people who reminded me. So thank you and I apologize for the long wait. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 12: Nightmares

* * *

><p><em>Beep-Beep-Beep.<em>

The methodical noise emanating from a heart monitor began to annoy Anko, and yet at the same time it reassured her that the other occupant of the room was alive. With his torso covered in stitches along with layers of gauze, Naruto slept upon the hospital bed in the room. Anko stood next to his bed. She watched over him and waited for signs of recovery or even mental thought. He hadn't woken since she arrived at the hospital.

Moonlight slid through the drapes of the window, barely brightening the room. It was only thanks to how long she had been in the room that she built a tolerance to the darkness.

The purple haired visitor brushed her hand over her boyfriends arm, noticing the numerous healing lacerations, some bandaged while others a faint scar.

'You look like a savage animal got a hold of you. What happened?'

Anko thought back to the last time she saw him.

* * *

><p>Two sleeping figures lay across a green queen sized bed, the matching covers draped over them. Naruto stretched during his mild return to consciousness. A pair of pajama bottems being his only article of clothing. He reached out and pulled the other occupant on the bed closer before drifting off to slumber once more. Anko didn't resist the pull or show any signs of discomfort. Her hair undone, an over sized, black long sleeved shirt and dark purple panties made up her physical appearance.<p>

It became common for the two to sleep within the same bed, though this happened mostly at Anko's home due to Naruto's lack of sleeping arrangments at his.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"

Anko's eyes reluctantly creaked open. Staring at the alarm clock on the table next to Naruto that read 10:01 am in red numbers, Anko slapped the snooze button.

She had planned to catch a few more minutes of sleep till Naruto opened his mouth, groggily stating his opinion.

"Stay home, take a day off."

"Like I did yesterday?" she jokingly stated.

His eyes still closed, a smile formed on his face. "Would that be so bad?"

Anko pulled herself closer to him. "Hmmm tempting, but I have to work. Got to kill enemies, follow the Hokage's order."

"Screw work, screw bad guys, and screw the Hokage." Naruto mumbled.

The snake user laughed long and hard till she yelped thanks to the hand groping her firm ass. "Something else we'd like to screw."

Smiling, Anko moved her head closer to Naruto's; joining their lips as she wrapped her arms around him.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP-"

The moment was ruined by the alarm clock's reminder that Anko was supposed to be getting up. A quick slap against the black box expressed Anko's annoyance. Reluctantly she pulled herself out of Naruto's grasp and out of the bed they laid on. She began preparing for work, pulling off Naruto's shirt and covering up in her work attire. A mesh shirt and shorts, her dark orange skirt, and a tan trench coat. She fitted her shin guards on after slipping her sandals on.

Before exiting the room, Anko made one last trip to her bed and leaned over the remaining occupant.

"Should I be expecting you back later?"

Naruto thought about the inquiry. His eyes stayed closed while he nodded.

A chaste kiss and Anko left the room and soon after the apartment.

* * *

><p>That was the last time she had seen him. Anko had wondered where Naruto had wondered off, eventually assuming he had gotten a mission at the last second and leaving it be. It was only thanks to Kurenai nearly knocking her door off its hinges.<p>

"_Anko, Anko open up! Open the door! Naruto has been hospitalized!"_

"_What! What happened?"_

"_I don't know. Asuma and his team came back injured and carrying Naruto on a stretcher."_

Team ten. They had to know how Naruto ended up on his balance between life and death. But there was nothing she could do about it. Asuma and his team would be recuperating, unable to answer her questions. They would be having a debriefing with the Hokage. It would be against regulations but the purple haired interrogator was sure she could persuade her superiors to let her overhear the debriefing. She stayed until a nurse came to inform her that visiting hours were over. Anko contemplated staying regardless, but she needed rest, and sharing the bed with Naruto in his current condition was out of the question. Regardless, sleep did not come easy for her that night.

* * *

><p>Soon after the sun had risen, Anko was back at the hospital. She checked on Naruto first. After seeing that he had yet to wake up and double checking his medical chart to see if there were any improvements, Anko made a bee line to Asuma's room. Luckily the man shared a room with his team.<p>

After finding the correct door, Anko closed the door behind her in the same second she entered.

"I wondered when you'd get here." Asuma thought out loud.

The snake mistress ignored his question in favor of studying him and his team. Asuma seemed to have several lacerations hidden behind several layers of gauze. Both arms were riddled with the white wrapping as well as the left side of his face.

Shikamaru was in the bed across from his sensei. He lacked the cuts but carried a broken leg that was placed in a cast. The lazy nin was fast asleep, most likely taking advantage of the pain killers pumping through his IV.

In the bed to the right of Shikamaru's was Choji's. The bulky nin seemed to share Asuma's injuries aside from his face being unharmed. A far away look could be seen in the Akimichi's eyes, his thoughts clearly not within the hospital.

Ino's bed was located between Asuma's left and the front of Choji's. The pale blonde carried the least of all injuries save for a few bruises. But she was sleeping restlessly. Having fits of pleading mumbles and resituating herself every few minutes.

"What happened to you and your team?" Anko finally asked. "And what happened to Naruto?"

"We were ambushed by a monster."

Anko's eyes narrowed. "A monster? What the hell are you talking about?"

Asuma shook his head. "I don't know what we ran into, but it couldn't have been human. At least not completely."

"Was Naruto recruited into you team?"

"No."

"Then what was he-"

Asuma raised one of his injured hands to cut her off. "Before we go any further let's wait till the Hokage is here; that way I can do this only once. I really need rest."

Anko nodded in agreement. Setting herself to the side of the door she entered, she waited patiently. An hour passed by, Shikamaru woke up during that time and a nurse came in to check on the patients. Asuma began to become uncomfortable with the wait and lack of sound. Finally he filtered through his clothes until he produced a pack of cigarettes.

"If the Hokage comes back tell her I-"

The door opened. "Tell me what?"

Asuma shook his head and pocketed his smokes. "Nothing."

Tsunade's eyes scanned the room, checking each patient. Her eyes landed on Anko.

A puzzled look crossed her face."Anko. What are you doing here?"

Said women straightened herself, giving the person before her the respect her title warranted.

"Hokage I would like to hear team ten's report."

"And why is this?" She asked, authority lacing her voice.

Anko kept herself in check, maintaining a proper voice. "Naruto was with team ten when he was injured. I would like to know exactly how he was injured."

"So it's a personal matter." Tsunade's tone felt harsh, but lightened as she continued. "You're impatient. Naruto would eventually tell you when he wakes up, but I'll let you listen in. With your relationship with Naruto you might be able to fill in some holes. Like why he was even there in the first place?"

"Naruto wasn't on a mission?" Anko asked

Tsunade shook her head. "No. He had the day off, but suddenly left the village in his hunter nin gear, at least this is what eye witnesses claim. But that's not important right now." Tsunade stated before turning to Asuma. "You may begin your report."

* * *

><p><em>We prepared for our mission shortly after receiving it. On our way out we had ran into Naruto. The meeting had only lasted a few minutes, and soon after we left the village. Due to the urgency of our mission we moved at a rushed pace.<em>

The four leapt from tree to tree. Even when their source of landing depleted, they simply fell to the ground and continued at a hastened speed.

A flushed face teen finally spoke, his chubby face jiggling with each step. "Why are we in such a rush? Does our employer really need us there today?"

"It's not that they need us there by today, but it was requested that we arrive today." Asuma answered.

The female of the group whipped her long blonde hair from her face before piquing her curiosity. "What's with the urgency?"

A third member with a high spiked ponytail tilted his eyes to his senior.

Asuma rolled the thought around his head, deciding how best to explain. "Lately there have been several massacres, specifically villages. They're just wiped out. Every man, women, and child are brutally killed save for a few lucky enough to escape. Those who escape spread the story of what they witnessed. Our employer has noticed a pattern to the villages being targeted and assumes that they are next in line. They are scared and want protection ASAP."

"Why wasn't a team assigned this mission sooner?" Shikamaru asked.

"Because until now we only thought that these massacres were merely rumors. Even now we are unsure about whether the rumors are true or not."

A thought suddenly occurred to Ino. "If whole villages are being destroyed then why are we the only team being sent out?"

"From what our employer has gathered from survivors there is only one hostile. Remember the drawing in the report, that's the so called monster responsible for all this. Though I doubt that is the case."

_How wrong I was._

"A ninja whose specializes in genjutsu?" Shikamaru asked.

"Possibly." Asuma's gruff voice openly pondered.

Their destination came into view and the group began to slow. As they neared Asuma's eyes narrowed. Suddenly the bearded Jounin held a palm in the air, calling his team to a halt. His team gave him a curious look while he simply stared in the direction that the village awaited.

The blonde of the group quickly grew impatient. "Why have we stopped?"

"Something's not right!" was Asuma's immediate response. "Listen!" he commanded.

They obeyed the command, but could not find anything unusual.

The issue soon became apparent to Shikamaru. "This close to the village and we can't hear anything. Not even the animals are making a sound."

"Exactly."

A worried look crossed Ino's and Choji's face. The blonde found her voice first. "What has happened to the village… and how do we proceed?"

"I don't know, the village might just be quiet from fear." Asuma theorized. "Or we may be too late. Either way we'll proceed with caution. Ino I want you behind me, you two will hang back on either side of her."

The three Chunin nodded. They understood their seniors thinking. Ino was the only one with medical knowledge in their group, if there really was a monster capable of killing whole populations, then they'd need her to be protected and near all three in order to quickly help each of them.

They moved forward, taking slow, silent steps. Their nerves climbed the closer they got to their target, the silence continued to hang in the air. Buildings began to appear as the trees thin out. A new sensation arouse in them as a thick smell hit their nose. The smell of blood was so intense that the taste of metal was present in their mouths.

And finally the trees were gone. The buildings were all around them, so was the carnage. Mutilated bodies were strewn all around them, left out on the streets as if put on display while their blood decorated the buildings like graffiti.

"Oh God!" Ino said, disturbance so thick in her voice that she could barely speak the two words.

The others held a mutual feeling. Asuma couldn't look at the scene without being reminded about the destruction he had seen roughly sixteen years ago. The fact that he was comparing the scene before him with that of the Nine tails fox's attack had him questioning what they were assigned to kill.

'Maybe there is a monster here.'

"_**He He Heh Ha Ha ha!"**_

A warped laughter echoed through the empty streets, bouncing off the walls and spreading for all to hear.

The four nins quickly leapt together, keeping a vigilant look for the overjoyed being responsible for the laughter.

"_**Hehehehahaha!"**_

They turned their backs to each other, preventing the twisted and inhuman owner of the laughter from attacking their blind side.

Asuma took charge and began working to calm his team. "Keep calm! Watch each others backs. He'll have to show himself if he plans to attack."

How their leader could put a sex to the voice of the laughter was beyond them, but regardless Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji all calmed from his reassuring words and the truth backing them.

"_**Oh, Is that what you think?" **_The voice mocked them. _**"Well think again!"**_

Their heads snapped towards the voice above them. The being that descended upon them forced their bodies to lock in place for a mere second. Fear released its grip just in time for the four to leap away, barely avoiding the keen knives of the creature's claws.

Team ten now had the being surrounded from four corners, unable to do nothing more than observe it. Its entire body was covered in a liquid flesh composed of a red and black mixture. Whether it was red with black mixed in or vice versa was indiscernible with how the colors varied, pattern-less and without purpose or meaning. Despite being smaller and thinner than Asuma, the sharp talons of its hands and the crazed smile formed from its black, thin, lipless, razor-like teeth held the nins at bay. If one were to take a closer look at its skin, they'd notice how it crawled around, strands reaching for the air around it.

Suddenly it whipped its head around, taking in each nin with its white lens eyes. _**"Only four of you. I was hoping for more!" **_**(1)**

"What are you?" Asuma finally asked, the words seething from his lips.

The creature redirected its gaze on Asuma. The teeth spreading apart, revealing the pink flesh of its mouth and a red tongue bobbing in tune with the words spoken.

"_**Don't you already know. An artist always signs his handiwork."**_

Brows furrowed from the riddle presented. Shikamaru took his eyes off of the creature before them, certain that his team would warn him of any attacks directed towards him. His eyes scanned the area around him, moving from the bodies on the ground to the blood on the walls. The lazy genius still couldn't make any sense of what was being said. He broadened his view, taking in more of the area instead of just one specific area. It was then that he caught it. He found the signature, formed from what was mistaken as simple blood spatters.

Anger fueled Shikamaru's breathing, forcing him to take deeper breathes after his nostrils flared from the heated exhales.

"His name is on the walls around us."

The others gave a confused look towards their designated tactician. They scanned the walls around them, eventually seeing what Shikamaru saw.

**Carnage**

"_**Finally get it! Good cause my patience has RUN OUT!"**_

Asuma had barely raised his trench knives in the little time it took Carnage to close the gap between them. Steel rung as claws met knives. Immediately the trio came to Asuma's aid. The largest inflated himself before turning into a rolling boulder.

Asuma disengaged his deadlock and leapt out of Choji's path. Carnage on the other hand hadn't even moved. The skin on his back convulsed, springing forth a deathtrap of blades made from his flesh.

"Choji don't!" Shikamaru shouted, forming hand seals in the hope to save his friend.

The human boulder must have noticed the danger or heard his friend, for he veered away. Shikamaru's shadow stretched out towards the red and black creature. In retaliation, Carnage raised a clawed hand towards the shadow user, his digits lengthening and exploding. The digits that flew towards Shikamaru forced him to abandon his jutsu and dodge to the side.

Once more Carnage was on the move, this time charging the female of the group. His head bobbed from side to side, slipping past the multiple kunai thrown towards his head.

"Ino duck!"

Without hesitation she followed Asuma's command. Wind chakra channeled through his trench knives increasing their length by four times. A swift sweep aimed the blade of wind towards Carnage's neck. Air was the only thing the wind severed as the monster had ducked under, placing his face a mere inch from Ino's face. It was only thanks to years of training that allowed her to escape the sharp teeth that aimed to tear her face off.

Asuma didn't end his assault, swinging his chakra infused knives in quick arcs. Carnage seemed to have the sense to dodge instead of clash, but the only thing that prevented him from counter attacking was the Akimichi rejoining the fight.

* * *

><p>"That thing was a monster not only in appearance. We threw everything we had at it and it just brushed it off."<p>

Shikamaru decided to cut in here, deciding to wake for a few mere minutes. "We couldn't even employ any of our family strategies. The second one of us would make to capture him…. It was as if he knew, as if he had eyes in the back of his head." **(2)**

"Worse yet we eventually found out that Carnage had been toying with us the whole time. That became obvious when I saw Venom for the first time."

* * *

><p><em>We'd begun to slow. Merely dodging took more effort than we'd like and as Shikamaru said, it was like he had eyes in the back of his head. Every blind spot we struck from was useless. Strategy executions halted before they even began .Luckily we had only received minor cuts, but things were turning from bad to worse. Then it happened.<em>

Like a bird of prey, a black shadow swooped in and snatched up Carnage. All eyes followed the shadow to find it and Carnage suspended nearly forty feet by a thick string of black webbing. At the top of Venom's swing, he released his choke hold on Carnage's neck. The insane creature flew out of the village and back into the forest thanks to the momentum of Venom's swing. The black clad nin followed after him, allowing the same momentum that carried Carnage to do the same for himself.

A loud thud sounded off Venom's landing and a chorus of cracks roared from the forest and silenced by a resounding tremor.

"Ino, how long will it take to heal our wounds?" Asuma asked.

The blonde accessed their damage. "Five minutes to stop any bleeding, ten minutes to close the wounds."

"Just focus on preventing blood loss. We need to provide back up for.. whoever that was."

Ino immediately began working on healing their injuries.

"That was Venom."

"Venom?" Asuma asked.

"The guy who just saved us. He's a hunter nin."

Ino moved from Choji to Shikamaru to heal his wounds. "How do you know this?"

The healer smirked at Shikamaru's question. "Happen to be friends with him." **(3)**

"Do we know him?" Choji asked.

"Can't tell you." Ino finished with Shikamaru's wounds.

"What can you tell us of him?" Asuma asked.

"He's strong, stronger than us. Good enough to be Jounin." Ino pointed out. "Hope he kills that psycho." she muttered as an after thought.

_After Ino finished tending to my injuries we made our way to the location where Carnage and Venom were fighting. When we finally got there I decided it was best that we stayed out of the fight. The fact that Carnage was toying with us was laid out before us, and Ino's statement about Venom being "stronger than us" became clearer. I initially thought she meant us individually, but what I witnessed revealed that she meant us together. I have to be honest; it had been years since I felt like a low Chunin in comparison to someone._

_Venom seemed to have the upper hand, or so I thought. But as the fight progressed he was slowing down, receiving more injuries, until finally._

They watched as Venom fell, his back slamming into the ground. Carnage was upon him in seconds, thrusting his hand forward, the claws lengthening and jutting towards the hunter nin until they tore thru his abdomen and pinned him to the ground.

Asuma turned to Shikamaru. "We need to get in there and help. Can you formulate a plan?"

Shikamaru began racking his brain for a strategy. Luckily Carnage seemed to be busying himself in talking to Venom. But how long could Venom last with his abdomen filleted and his other injuries freely leaking blood? If the man was in pain it was too hard to tell with his mask on.

A plan came to him and he immediately began giving out each person's job and in what order they were to act in.

Carnage raised his unoccupied hand, a flood of red and black flesh coursing up his arm, taking shape over his hand. An ax was molded and Carnage took aim.

"Now!" Shikamaru hissed.

Asuma flashed thru a set of hand signs, taking in a deep breath and expelling a torrent of fire. The flames flew towards Carnage, the murderous being leaping away as the first bits of fire licked his skin.

A cry of pain escaped Carnage's mouth followed by a curse. "_**You Dick! I'll**_-"

His words were cut short as a slip of paper floating down in front of him. It exploded, releasing a blinding light. Carnage immediately grasped his face. The assault didn't end there as Choji charged from behind Carnage, his fist enlarging to nearly half his height and crashing it into the red and black nightmare.

The punch sent him crashing to the ground, digging a trench from where he landed. Carnage never even had a chance to stand before his shadow was invaded. Suddenly he was standing and mimicking the shadow user behind him.

"It's over." Shikamaru stated before sending a ghost of a hand creeping up Carnage's body.

Ino rushed over to Venom, checking his wounds and attempting to heal what she could. Asuma and Choji walked over as well to watch.

"Naruto?" Asuma asked, his voice carrying shock.

The blonde had been slightly scorched from Asuma's ninjutsu. His mask had been seared off and the smell of burnt skin emanated from the cuts and missing patches of Naruto's clothes. Asuma felt a tinge of guilt from his miscalculated aim.

"Help. I can't hold him."

All three looked back towards Shikamaru, finding that Carnage was still alive and struggling against the jutsu that bond him.

Choji and Asuma ran towards Carnage, intent on ending his life. They stopped in their tracks when Carnage suddenly broke his own leg. A booming snap echoed from both Carnage's and Shikamaru's leg as well as twin howls of pain.

Asuma and Choji stared as Carnage simply reset his leg as if nothing had ever happened.

Ino acted immediately. Joining the tips of her index fingers and thumbs, forming a scope aimed towards the scarlet and ebony inked monster. "Mind transfer jutsu!"

Ino's sharp command of her jutsu snapped them out of their shock.

"Ino don't!" Asuma shouted.

His attempt to stop the blonde from delving into the monster's mind ended in vain, leaving him unable to do little more than watch her slump to the ground next to Naruto.

He waited, fearing the worst yet praying for the best. Seconds stretched on for what felt like minutes and still nothing happened. Finally a terror filled scream rang from Ino's throat, her body shooting up into a sitting position for a mere second before collapsing again.

Carnage chuckled. "_**Well that was an interesting experience. Hehehahaha!**__"_

"You bastard!" Choji charged in.

He rolled up into a ball and enlarged himself. Carnage gave the human pinball an amused chuckle, pointing his claws towards his aggressor. Carnage waited till the Akimichi was only a mere four feet away before firing off a burst of knives.

Choji hopped over the projectiles. Carnage's lens-like eyes widened for the fraction of a second Choji's body remained air borne. A tremor vibrated through the forest area as the Akimichi landed on top of Carnage. The human boulder rolled in place for a second before moving off of its flattened opponent.

Choji unrolled and returned to his normal size. He turned around and looked back to where he created a crater.

Carnage slowly rose off his back. Not bothering to use his hands to help lift him up.

"_**That the best you've got!"**_

Asuma charged with Choji this time, both attacking from opposite sides.

_It was just me and Choji now. We had Carnage pressured, and unable to properly attack. Shikamaru and Ino being taken out of the fight worked to our advantage. When we no longer had to worry about Carnage targeting them it gave us the luxury of staying close and personal. Yet we were still having to hold back as I didn't want to miss and slice through Choji and he didn't want to send me flying. Carnage then sliced Choji's side and forced him back. I tried to end it, but I over threw my sweep. That monster took advantage of my wide posture and swung his claws in an uppercut that got the left side of my face and nearly gouged my eye out. Choji tried to charge in once more, but I put a stop to it._

"Choji! Stay back!" Asuma demanded, blood covering one side of his face.

He ran through a set of hand signs. Carnage ran towards the bearded Jounin, not caring what he had up his sleeves. Asuma brought up his fingers to his mouth, forming an O around his lips. Fire erupted from his mouth, chasing away the nightmare. Asuma held his jutsu and followed Carnage's movements. It wasn't until he lost sight of his target that he decide to still his breath, though he prepared his fingers to fire another torrent of flames if Carnage showed himself again.

Several minutes passed by and nothing moved in the forest aside for a fire spreading on one of the trees Asuma hit. Finally the squad leader dropped his guard and made his way over to Ino. He feared trying to wake her, but was left with little choice. She was the only one who could heal them enough to even begin traveling.

The blood covering his face was making it hard to see, but that didn't stop him from noticing the pool of blood Naruto lay in. He raised a shaking hand to Naruto's throat, pressing his index and middle fingers to the side of his throat. He needed to check on Ino, but at the same time needed to know if Naruto was even alive.

Feeling a faint, but steady pulse, Asuma began breathing again. He further inspected the hunter nin. Asuma happily noticed that while Naruto lay in a sizable puddle of blood, his wounds were no longer bleeding out.

Once he was certain that Naruto was not in any real danger, Asuma moved onto Ino. Resting a hand on her pale shoulder, he began rocking her.

"Ino. Wake up! We-We need you. Up!' he urged her.

Asuma rocked her rougher as fear settled in him.

Suddenly Ino's eyes snapped open and she took in a fast and sharp inhale, the sound of air forcing its way down her throat creating a strangled whine.

Asuma grabbed both of her shoulders, trying to get her attention on him. "You ok? Ino, look at me."

She focused on him, though her expression was nearly blank. "I-I-I'm ok."

It was obviously a lie. Her body was trembling beneath his fingers and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't take in a single breathe of air without it leaving her lungs in trembling exhales.

But he had to ignore this. He, Choji, and Shikamaru needed immediate medical attention.

"Ino." he said, a calm eddy flowing through his voice. "Shikamaru has a broken leg and Choji is bleeding out of his side. I need help with my face as well."

It took several inhales of air before she could begin speaking properly.

"O-Ok." she rose to her feet and walked towards Choji first.

Asuma looked over to Shikamaru and made his way towards him. He knew enough about first aid to reset a leg and make a splint for it.

He knelt next to the shadow user. "How you holding up?"

"C-Can't believe he just turned my jutsu against me."

Asuma gave a confused look, the right side of his face expressing his question. "By the way, how did he do that?"

"Didn't. I-" Shikamaru sucked in air as he felt Asuma grab his broken leg. "Gah!" Asuma bent the leg back in place, feeling the muscle around the break to see if he set it back correct.

Shikamaru began talking again. "H-He didn't. I just.. just didn't cancel my jutsu before he forced his movements."

Bringing out a scroll from his pack, Asuma unrolled it and pumped a bit of chakra into one of the many seals inside. A first aid kit appeared and the bearded Jounin quickly pulled out bandages and two pieces of planks.

Once he finished aiding Shikamaru, Asuma turned to see how Ino was fairing. She was just finishing applying bandages when she turned towards him and saw that Shikamaru had been taken care of. Ino walked towards Asuma.

"Where's Carnage?" she asked as she raised a green glowing hand to his face.

"Chased him off. He doesn't like fire."

"So he's still alive."

Asuma nodded grimly at the statement. "We need to get a stretcher for Naruto. I'll carry Shikamaru back."

Her reply was almost a panicked yell "We-We're in no shape to travel!"

Asuma nodded. "At the same time we need to get further medical attention, especially Naruto. We can't afford Carnage showing up again or anyone else for that matter."

"Y-Y-You're right. " Ino affirmed. "I'll use one of our tents to carry Naruto on. Choji is well enough to help me carry him."

* * *

><p>"We made our way back shortly afterwards. The village was destroyed before we even arrived and Carnage escaped."<p>

Tsunade absorbed all the information. Anko stood off to the side, a look of morbid wonder on her face.

'What did they encounter? It was able to overpower both the Yamanaka and Nara clan possession techniques. And Naruto…. how was he even able to hold off such a monster for even a few minutes. Carnage.. the name fits.'

Anko's musing ended as Tsunade spoke. "It's a miracle that you were able to get back to the village without further confrontation."

"Certainly. I don't know how we'd even be able to properly defend ourselves if we'd run into simple bandits." Asuma agreed.

"Did you ever find out what happened to Ino when she'd tried to possess Carnage?"

Asuma shook his head. "No. She was barely keeping her head on straight. I didn't want to force her to face whatever happened, especially when I needed her help getting the others back. And as you can see she's still suffering from the incident." He pointed towards the constantly shifting form across from him.

"I won't push for it, for now. But once she's in a more mentally stable set of mind I'll need her to supply me with a report of what she experienced inside Carnage's mind and if she was able to glean any useful information."

The bearded Jounin gave an affirmative nod.

Tsunade then turned to Anko. "Once Naruto wakes up I'll need a report from him as well. He wasn't even supposed to be there, though I'm happy he was, at least for team ten's sake."

Anko took the statement as an order. "If I see him awake I'll send someone to inform you."

"Thank you." was the simple response.

* * *

><p><strong>Several days later<strong>

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP

His eye lids opened slowly. They scanned the room lazily before landing on the collapsed form snoozing on the sat next to his bed. A bandaged arm crawled across the bed, finally landing on the figures lap.

"Anko." Naruto croaked out from his parched throat.

His mind swam with images of what had happened before his loss of consciousness.

Naruto's face hardened. "Carnage!"

* * *

><p><strong>The day team ten headed out<strong>

A dull evening marked the atmosphere for Naruto. With Anko busy with work and a lack of work for himself, he found himself with little to do. His friends crossed his mind, but after seeing team ten off he was doubtful that any were free at the moment.

There was always a mission, one aside from his hunts. He didn't want anything big. Just something to keep him busy through the day, besides, he wanted to be back before Anko got home.

Once he was in Hokage's office he looked through the different D ranks available, after getting said leaders permission.

'Weed pulling, Garbage clean-up, Apartment renovations, Why'd we think this was a good way to pass time. Oh, dog walking from the Inuzuka's, save that one.'

He pocketed the mission for the Inuzuka clan before moving on. As he looked through the missions, Naruto couldn't help but wonder what team ten had been sent to do. His eyes travelled to the busy fellow blonde as he questioned his curiosity.

Feeling eyes on her, Tsunade looked towards Naruto. "Can I help you?" she irritably asked.

Using the question as a conversation starter, Naruto decided to go ahead and ask his question.

"We were curious about what mission team ten went out on? Had a run in with them."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing him from her desk. "And why do you want to know?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders in response. "Don't honestly know, just a funny feeling."

The blonde woman thought it over for a few seconds. 'There's really no harm in him knowing. The mission isn't classified and it's not like it holds any secrets.'

She reached into her desk and rummaged through the drawers till she found the specific mission report she was looking for.

After finally finding the scroll she tossed it towards Naruto. The black clad nin caught it and opened it up. His eyes scanned it from top to bottom. He stopped breathing for a fraction of a second, taking every fiber of his nerves to not tense or appear startled while in his leaders presence.

"So they're monster hunting." He humorously stated.

"That's what the rumors claim; though I'm not sure there's anything to it. All the same, I sent team ten to protect the village that requested our help and see if there is anything to this monster. Those drawings you see on the scroll are what the 'eye witnesses' claim the monster looks like." Tsunade informed Naruto.

Naruto gave a dry chuckle, though his eyes never left the drawing of the so called monster.

"Yeah, whatever!" He casually said, burning the location of the village to his memory before tossing the scroll back to the Hokage.

He went back to rummaging through the missions, putting his all into the act of an uncaring louse.

"Well.. none of these interest us. We'll leave ya alone now."

Naruto turned to the exit, making sure his body language was just as care free as his voice. He needed to insure no one would grow curious in his demeanor, curious in how much interest he had in Team ten's mission and just how urgently he needed to leave.

The symbiote host kept his act up till he was out of the building before sprinting off towards the village gates. Somewhere in between his haste he managed to slip a smoke bomb to the ground, using the cover to switch into his hunter nin outfit. He sped through the streets, taking to the air with carefully aimed web swings. Even as he approached the gates, he didn't slow or bother informing the guards of his destination.

'I hope I'm wrong.' Naruto thought.

His mind swept him back nearly over two years ago. Two years back when he'd ditch Jiraiya. Two years since the birth of the symbiote that spawned off of Naruto's alien partner, his true reason for leaving Jiraiya behind. After the constant occurrence of a demon roaming the nations crossed Naruto, his other informed him of the birth, it had paid the birth little mind due to it holding no feelings towards the spawned new born. **(4)**

But once Naruto found out, he panicked. Thought of what had become of the new symbiote and blamed himself for being so careless. He had spent nearly a month chasing hints and rumors before giving up on finding his pseudo child.

Now it had resurfaced, possibly putting Team ten in danger if they stumbled upon the symbiote. Naruto pushed himself even harder to move faster. Hoping to catch up with Asuma and the others before they reached their destination.

'We will not let our youngling harm our friends!' the thought fueled his adrenaline intoxicated body.

* * *

><p>After hours of swinging, Naruto stopped. He smelt the iron in the air almost as soon as the village came into view.<p>

"_**Heheheahaha!"**_

The obvious insane laughter along with the sounds of struggle rose from the village depths. Naruto began moving once more. Swinging from one web line to another as he made his way closer. After choosing a tall enough building, Naruto landed on the side of said building. He used both his feet and one arm to stick to the structure and leaned outward, his waist twisting so he could better scope the town.

It wasn't hard to find the skirmishes exact location. "Good, no ones been hurt yet."

His relieve didn't last as he focused on the new host. A plan formulated in his mind, one to separate the symbiotic host and the leaf nins away from each other. Naruto didn't want to worry about fighting and protecting.

Obviously no one had noticed him yet and he was still a decent ways away from the action. Leaping off his current perch, the hunter nin allowed himself to fall until just after he passed the roof of the lower building. Immediately he launched a web line out and swung forward, repeating the process until he was just over the area of the fight. Launching one last web line, he turned himself around and swooped in on his target.

All were stunned by his arrival, allowing him ample time to snatch and go. At the top of his swing he released his hold on both the red and black symbiotic host first and then his line, sending himself and his prey flying towards the forest surrounding the village.

The new symbiote, unprepared for the fall, impacted the earth below him with his back. Naruto channeled chakra through his body, increasing his mass to nearly double his normal size. He landed, nearly implanting his feet into the ground and immediately dashed to the red and black symbiotic host, giving his enemy no time to counter.

The new host had a mere second of rising to his feet before Naruto's enormous knee nearly caved in over half of his torso and rocketed him through the air. Several tree branches broke his flight but it was the trunk of a tree in his path that ended his flight.

Bark nearly exploded off the tree after the impact and Naruto watched as his foe fell to the ground, limp as a doll.

He made his way closer, prepared to end it and retrieve the symbiote. Just as he was within a foot of the downed host, it suddenly leapt to life and lashed out. Naruto jumped back, but not without harm as four long gashes running diagonally across his chest spread open and bled.

"_**That really fucking hurt pops!"**_

Naruto stared puzzled. Not at being called pops but in wonder at how his enemy could even move let alone talk.

'What an insane healing ability! We had to of crushed his ribcage and nearly broken every one of his limbs'

"_**What? Too speechless to talk to your own son!" **_the host jovially asked.

"**You're no son of ours!"** Naruto spat.

"_**Disowned even before my introduction? Such poor parenting!" **_the symbiotic host laughed _**"But that's ok because I've been dying to have this meeting, well…. at least someone will be dying." **_He aimed a mocking stare towards Naruto.

The new host leapt towards Naruto, claws spread out and ready to tear into the black symbiotic host. Naruto met the assault head on, ignoring the knives that grip his shoulders and slowly slipped in. He griped his opponent's fore arms.

It became apparent that strength was not the new host's specialty with how easy it was for Naruto to remove the claws from his shoulder and lift him off the ground. Bones crunched beneath his tight grip and the black and red symbiotic host screamed and cursed as pain coursed through his arms.

One of the dangling legs grew a sharp blade from its knee and swung forward.

Naruto released his grip as quickly as he felt the blade dig in. He grabbed his abdomen, checking to see how bad the damage was before brushing it off.

The hunter nins opponent took to the air, bouncing off the surrounding trees. Naruto quickly gave chase, following the insane man's movements. He broke off the pursuit when his prey suddenly ricocheted back towards him.

After veering out of the way, Naruto launched a strand of his symbiote towards the other, grabbing his back and pulling his enemy towards him. Once the symbiotic host was within reach, Naruto grabbed him by the skull and allowed gravity to carry them to the forest floor. Seconds before impact, Naruto slammed his occupied hand down, ensuring that his opponent's head met the earth first.

The earth practically exploded from the impact. Dust particles surrounded the air for several seconds. Naruto removed his hand from the crater formed and watched as the symbiotic host lay partially buried. He suddenly leapt back at the smallest hint that his enemy wasn't dead. A wise decision if not for the cords of red and black symbiote that chased him from the hand of his enemy and wrapped themselves around his neck.

Naruto watched helplessly as his opponent pulled himself towards him and sank his claws through his stomach, the knife like digits entering from one side and exiting the other. He was thrown back till he collided with a tree, digits that impaled him continued to pin him in place.

The symbiotic host stared into his eyes, lens-like eyes reflecting off each other. A wicked smile formed from his sharp, pointed teeth, enjoying the pained groans that escaped Naruto's mouth. His smile ceased as he watched the man before him turn brown and dissolve.

Without warning, spikes of hardened earth rose up from all around him. He found himself pinned and pierced in various areas. A most fatal incident if not for his special nature, a smile formed on his face as he broke free. Chunks of the earth that had pierced him were broken from their protrusions and dragged along the inhuman body.

Naruto watched this from his hiding spot amongst the trees.

'How is he still alive?'

His body shrunk back to its original size, his breathe came out in heavy pants as he began chastising himself.

'Dammit. Shouldn't have rushed in like an idiot. Was already winded from the trip here. Akimichi body expansion drained our chakra and stamina faster. Should have tested him, witness what all he was capable of first. What the hell is with his healing, and how can we kill him?'

That one question puzzled his mind. He had neither symbiote weakness. Even if he did have something to create a high frequency sound, he'd be unable to use it without harming himself. That left him with only fire, which he was incapable of using.

The air being parted by ten red and black, jetting knives flew towards Naruto. He'd just barely avoided a fatal blow to the head thanks to hearing the whistling sound of air being cleaved. The rest of his body was not as fortunate, for his right arm and both legs had a pair of the deadly projectiles sticking into them. Naruto fell to the forest floor and landed upright.

"_**What's wrong pops? Running out of gas!"**_

Naruto removed the offending blades from his limbs. **"Hardly." **He lied.

A black tendril of symbiotic fluid shot up into the air and Naruto swung through the air. The red and black host leapt after him, bouncing off trees instead of swinging.

Naruto hoped his decreased size would give him the speed needed to win, as he was all too aware of how much strength he lost in exchange.

* * *

><p>He fell to the ground with a hard thud. Despite Naruto's best efforts, he was beaten. His increased speed didn't amount to much. The younger symbiote and its host were simply too fast. Fatigue and loss of blood piled together and left him a helpless mess. Even if he Naruto could push past his tired body, his mind was unable to work right. Blood leaking from the many punctures and lacerations caused his vision to blur and his mind to be unfocused.<p>

Clarity returned to his vision as pain screamed from his torso. He stared defiantly at the victorious symbiotic host despite his mask hiding his facial features.

"_**I've waited a long time for this." **_the red and black host said, his voice still warped yet lacking its maniacal tone. _**"Though I figure I should thank you. If not for you I'd not be the being I am today."**_

He paused his musing, as if contemplating what the best reward would be to give to his fallen enemy.

"_**Hehehahaha. Oohhhahaha. What better gift, than the knowledge of your killer?"**_

His mouth melded together, eyes disappearing as well till there was simply an unmarked layer of red and black over his face. The symbiote retracted from his face, revealing pale and unscarred skin. The symbiote stopped its retraction at the tip of its host chin and the top of his fore head.

But that was all Naruto needed to see in order to figure out who the man before him was. Anger flared through him as he finally understood when exactly his symbiote gave birth.

"**Hidan!" **He snarled

Said main smirked, laughter bellowing from his mouth as the symbiotic face retook shape.

" Hahah**eheha**_**haha! Not anymore! After the symbiote merged with me I became something more. I'll admit to being scared when I saw my own headless body walking towards me after you ripped my head off, but when it placed me back on, when I became whole again! I knew instantly something was different. Before I was just a foot soldier in Jashin's army, now I'm his right hand. I slaughter in his name, sacrificing whole villages for him! I'm Carnage now, and it's all thanks to you! And now you're going to die by my hands. Talk about justice!"**_

Carnage paused after the word "justice" left his mouth. He laughed again as if coming across a humorous epiphany.

"_**Speaking of justice." **_He raised his unoccupied hand and channeled his symbiote into it, molding the alien tissue until it formed an ax. _**"You know how the old saying goes. Arm for an arm and a head for a head!" **_**(5)**

Carnage prepared to swing his weapon down. The blade of the ax was mere inches away from Naruto's neck when Carnage leapt away. Instead of the brief pain of his head being severed from his body, a torrent of heat fried the nerves of his skin. The pain proved too much for his already drowsy mind and he quickly lost consciousness before he could even give his pain sound.

* * *

><p><strong>Present time<strong>

"Finally awake."

Anko's voice pulled him from his memories and he looked towards his girlfriend.

"Yeah. How long have you been waiting on us?" he said with a parched throat.

Anko gripped his hand, the one he had laid on her lap. "A little under a full week. So much for you not heading out on any missions."

Naruto caught the hint of worry in her tone and squeezed her hand in return.

"We're sorry."

The apology helped, but Anko still had questions. "Naruto. What were you doing out there?"

Anko's question caught him off guard. He had enough secrets from his girlfriend and he wanted to limit the lies he told her. But once more the subject revolved around his symbiote, his nearly life long partner. He didn't want to endanger his other and at the same time he was tired of being dishonest to his girl.

Said girlfriend noticed the conflict on his face. "What's wrong?"

Her voice brought him back to reality, to the question at hand. "We don't know how best to explain."

It wasn't a lie.

"Team ten had been sent out to fight a so called monster."

Anko nodded to show she was following.

"And we had fought this monster before, knew who it was. We knew that if we didn't intervene, this so called monster would have killed them."

"You've …. fought this thing before?" Anko asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yes. Fought _him_ before."

He spent the next few minutes explaining who Carnage was and a small lie of how he'd fought Hidan in his new form during a previous mission.

"What the hell happened to him? AND why didn't you tell the Hokage about this after you fought him the first time!" Anko yelled

"We thought that we'd killed him. As for what happened to him, something unnatural."

Anko's anger fizzled. "That was careless. You should have told the Hokage regardless." she softly said

Again, Naruto nodded. "We know."

The worry from the past few days finally caught up to Anko.

Naruto felt himself enveloped in a hug. He returned it, squeezing as he thought about just how close he came to dying. He separated his bandaged body from Anko's just enough to allow his lips to capture hers. They remained like this for several minutes, the only part of them moving being the lips they pressed heatedly against each other. Naruto pulled Anko closer till she crawled onto the bed with him and was straddling his lap. He still had yet to release her lips, trying to hold onto the feelings he felt when they connected. His hands entered her trench coat and explored her skin through the mesh shirt she wore. Naruto's mind was a whirlwind of the things he could have missed out on had he met his demise, things he wanted, things he had yet to do, things they had yet to do together. Anko shared his thoughts, enjoying as much as she could of the moment.

Naruto finally pulled away, breathless with questions arising in his minds.

"How did we even get back here?"

It took a second for Anko to understand what her lover had asked her. "Team ten brought you back…. They're in the hospital as well." she answered while recapturing her breath.

"They killed Carnage?"

Anko's look told him everything he needed to know.

"Doesn't matter right now." Naruto said before kissing Anko again. "Let's enjoy right now."

Anko held him close to her, finally relieved thanks to his return to consciousness. Their bodies melded together, leaving little space between them. Naruto rested his head on Anko's shoulder while she did the same with his. The purple haired kunoichi remembered the order her leader gave her, but couldn't bring herself to mention it. For the moment she simply wanted to be content and enjoy the warmth of her lover's body and the steady beat of his heart.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Well It's good to finally have this chapter finished, sorry about the wait. Also I finally introduced Carnage and revealed who the host for it is. Bet hardly anyone thought it'd be Hidan of all people. Sorry if it's not who you'd like it to be, but remember I did say that I wanted the symbiotes attached to people that were similar to their canon hosts. I've been wondering something for a while. In all honesty I'm, not that great of a artist and I was wondering if anyone was interested in drawing a cover image for this story, you know like Naruto in his hunter nin outfit with Anko by his side or something like that, the one I have right now is cool and all, but I made that by photo shoping another Naruto picture off the web. Any way here are the additional notes for specific parts.<strong>

**1. For those who are unfamiliar with Carnage, this is not a typo. Carnage does not refer to himself as multiple people (We, us, our/ours). This is due to the symbiote and the host bonding so much that they don't regard themselves as individuals. At least that's the story I'm sticking to.**

** 's ability to see things around him is due to the symbiote having been initially absorbed into the hosts blood stream during the bonding process, this is also why the symbiote is black AND red. Initially it was black before mixing.**

**3. Why does Ino know who Venom is? Just in case some people have forgotten, she was present during his mental evaluation and he admitted to wanting to become a hunter nin.**

**4. Yeah, symbiotes really don't give two craps about their newborns due to the birth being genderless and without sex needed. There isn't even pain involved in the birth. One of the however many eggs that the symbiote is born with hatches and the new born falls off like dead weight. I forgot the scientific word for it, but that doesn't change the point here.**

**5. Why can Carnage form weapons while Venom can't? I honestly don't know, but if I had to think of a scientific reason behind it, I 'd have to say it has something to do with the Carnage symbiote's mixture of blood and the iron within the blood. Not saying it's a good explanation, but it's all I got.**


	14. Chapter 13:Conspiracy

Along Came a Symbiote

Chapter 13: Conspiracy

* * *

><p>Little light illuminated the hospital room thanks to the cloud filled sky. Yet Naruto could see the woman he shared his bed with perfectly. He carefully moved a stray hair away from her face, doing his best not to wake her. It had been three days since he'd awakened from his coma and told Anko all he could. He shifted in his bed, trying to press her closer to him. His body was nearly bandage free aside from a few places on his chest. Though his healing was going smoothly, scars littered his body in parallel quad sets, Carnage clearly leaving an everlasting impression on him. His body still needed to repair the skeletal damage, something that took far longer than his flesh.<p>

'Not like it matters.'

His abysmal thought was in remembrance to the fact that he had the next two weeks free. After retelling the story he fed Anko to the Hokage, he was reprimanded for his careless actions that had put his fellow leaf nins in danger. As punishment, he was given a two week suspension.

Carnage, Hidan covered with his symbiote's spawn. Naruto couldn't help but wonder where the madman was. Guilt tightened around his neck, as he thought of all those who died by Carnage's hand. He thought of how he was responsible for Carnage's creation, and how there would be a two week period where he couldn't hunt him down. Two weeks for Carnage to kill. Naruto quickly shook the thought from his mind.

Naruto returned his attention to Anko. Sleep called to him, to join her in a content slumber. And yet he fought it. Something didn't feel right. He felt eyes on him, on them, yet he couldn't find anything. His current condition prevented him from inspecting his surroundings aside from observing. He tried to put them out of his mind, especially with his eyes growing heavy from fatigue.

* * *

><p><span><strong>The next day<strong>

It was that time of year again as Genins came from all over the elemental nations in hope of rising in rank. They were all gathered before the tall, ominous fenced area known as training ground 44. Anko was stuck once again explaining the rules for the second exam.

"I'm going to need you to sign these waver forms before you enter my lovable forest, cause it ain't our fault if you die!"

Her voice was loud, but it lacked its usual exuberance.

Naruto was different. She didn't know if it was the recent events or something else, but something was bothering him. He wasn't sleeping well, something she knew for a fact, and he seemed hesitant towards her.

'What's bothering him?'

The group of Genin began walking towards her, papers in hand.

Anko gathered the various legal papers and double checked that each was signed.

"Alright now your teams will each receive a scroll-"she explained the next steps.

Once the second part of the exams began, Anko began making her way towards the hospital. Her thoughts went back to Naruto as she pondered what could be going through his head.

'Is it regret, could he be regretting our relationship. No, its not that, at least I don't want to think that, besides he's been more affectionate lately. Scared. I don't think he's capable of feeling fear.' Anko chuckled. 'What is it? What has him so-'

Her thoughts stopped as the hospital came into view. Various Anbu were stationed around, and in plain view no less. She immediately walked up towards one.

"What is going on here?"

The Anbu standing at the entrance turned towards her, his lion panted mask hiding his features aside from his brown bushy hair.

"A patient was kidnapped, his room was destroyed and only one of the assailants have been apprehended."

Anko had only heard part of what was said as she pushed by the man and immediately ran towards Naruto's room. An uneasy pit formed in her stomach. And then it exploded. The door to Naruto's room had been torn from its hinges and said door had been broken in half. What she could see of the inside was a mess.

"Hey don't go in there!"

Anko entered despite the protest. The broken windows with blood spots around the remaining edges and the knocked over furniture and equipment were the first things she noticed.

'No.. nonono. I just got him back!' her mind was on the edge of despair.

Her eyes took a closer look at her surrounding. 'Blood on the windows is still wet, not much, whoever's it belongs to is injured at best. Room has minor damage, struggle didn't last long. Naruto's hospital gown, torn and thrown to the corner of the room.' She couldn't think further with her mind torn between Naruto and accessing the situation. 'Thank god there isn't a body here.'

She turned to the exit of the room and her eyes fell upon the restrained individual. The male was dressed in clothes identical to Konoha's Anbu aside from his white mask, which was painted in pattern-less lines and sweeps across an animal face.

Anko walked up to the real Anbu standing guard over the man. "This the assailant?" she asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

The Anbu nodded. "Just one of them, witnesses' state that there were multiple culprits, all dressed similarly."

Anko leveled an icy glare on the faux Anbu. "Bring him to MY interrogation room."

The purple haired interrogator walked off without another word. She bottled up her emotions, sealing them off to prevent her muddled feelings from spilling out.

The Anbu hesitated a mere second before picking up the captured criminal and following after Anko.

* * *

><p>The room was painted in a dull grey. Walls were evenly spaced to form a perfect square. All four corners contained a stand that held a large speaker on top. In the middle of the room a chain hung from the ceiling, and on that chain hung Naruto. He hung from his bounded hands. His clothes, or the symbiote that formed his hunter gear, was missing several spots and appeared to be torn.<p>

Despite the cool air, sweat could be seen on his exposed skin. His faced was unmasked and full of pain though there was no physical explanation.

Suddenly the speakers switched on, each releasing a high pitch squeal. Naruto howled, thrashing his body while his symbiote twitched and convulsed. Bits of the symbiote fell off, the flesh dying off from the prolonged exposure to the sound.

The speakers shut off. It had become a systematic process of his symbiote recovering and the speakers kicking on, destroying any progress the symbiote made.

Naruto imagined that there was a camera inside the room and that someone was activating the speakers. The attacks hadn't come in specific minutes nor when he moved.

They new his weakness and how to exploit it. Naruto recalled the metallic devices that each of his assailants had equipped onto their arms. It had been nearly four years since he had felt the sting of melody arm during the Chunin exams. He would have linked his kidnappers to Oto if not for how little they traveled.

'We're not even outside the village.'

Again the speakers hummed to life, sending a new wave of pain through both Naruto and the symbiote. His body went limp and the sound ended his torment.

A loud clicked sounded off the only door to the room unlocking, and soon after an elder man entered the room followed by two of his assailants. The faux Anbu stood protectively on the sides of the apparent leader.

Naruto looked up and met the bandaged face of Danzo. Silence filled the room as neither Naruto or the man before him seemed to be in a hurry to speak, for Naruto there were many more things he preferred to do at the moment.

Naruto looked towards the body guards. "So the Third Hokage was correct in assuming you hadn't disbanded your vigilante gang." recalling the diary Hiruzen left him.

Danzo's face remained stiff. "Root is the very structure that supports this village. One that fights the battles that must be fought."

"It also works outside of the Hokage's orders and for your interests." Naruto added.

"The current Hokage and Hiruzen before her were and are still unable to make the decisions needed for this village."

"And you are?" Naruto chuckled. "We know all about you. You're manipulative, obsessive, but mostly a coward."

Danzo's voice remained passive but grew in volume. "Hit him again."

Naruto grunted as the speakers resumed their job. The other three occupants never moved once while Naruto shook the chains with his tremors.

Danzo began speaking once the speakers switched off. "I know all about you…. and your other. I must confess that when your odd behavior began I initially assumed that you were merely bonding with the Nine tailed fox inside you. But then the Chunin exams came. As usual I had Root spread out amongst Training ground 44, adding intelligence on the skills of the new Genins from other villages. Then one of them spotted you and your fight with the sound nin. After witnessing your abilities and the unusual transformation of your clothes, you were followed. I was unsure of what I had been told, or what could possibly be attached to you. I ordered Root to further investigate you, and to figure what exactly your abilities were, but there wasn't much they could do, until after you left for your training trip."

Danzo smiled. "It was then that they were able to search your home without alerting you. They found the container and were able to find small traces of what was inside. It wasn't enough to add up the pieces. The fragments left behind were nearly dust. We had to rehydrate them, only to find out that it matched no element found on this planet. Still it wasn't enough for me to figure out. I spent weeks trying to figure out what your weapon was and where it came from. A closer look at the container revealed scorch marks, I couldn't understand why the container would have been burnt, but then I remembered about the meteor that destroyed your apartment all those years ago. Then everything came together."

"What do you want with us?" Naruto finally asked.

Danzo gave the question some thought. "I want to know more about your alien partner. How it works, and how I can reproduce it. I wouldn't have thought to create more, but…. Carnage proved that this alien is capable of reproduction. You on the other hand, I have no use for."

A smile spread on Naruto's face. "You won't get what you want from us. We're not so feeble as to bend to your will. Besides, we're a package deal. You won't get one of us without the other."

"I'm confident that's not the truth. I already know your alien's weakness. Whether it unbinds itself from you out of its need for survival or because you die is beside the point."

Danzo gave a sharp command and the speakers were switched back on. Again Naruto was wracked with pain, both of his own and the symbiotes. This time the machines were not turned off after a mere few minutes. As time continued, the symbiote convulsed more wild, falling off in larger globs and exposing more of Naruto's skin. The pain of the two detaching became too painful for the blonde, causing him to scream.

The entire time this happened, Danzo and his two guards watched motionless. It wasn't until Naruto was nude that Danzo nodded and the guard on his left approached Naruto, only to bend down and focus on the black pool beneath him. He retrieved a glass container and began scooping handfuls of the symbiote into it. The symbiote was incapable of even gripping onto the man in its weakened state and was left with little option than to limply flow into the clear prison.

The man sealed the container off once he'd obtained the majority of the alien life form and stood up.

The speakers shut off and the man looked back towards Naruto, who had passed out. "Shall we kill him now?"

"No." Danzo stated. "We will extract the Nine tailed fox first, then kill him. For now we will focus on our new project and worry about the jinchuriki after a suitable host has been selected."

With that sentence finished, the three made their way towards the door and left the room behind. Naruto hung limp, and for the first time in twelve years, without his symbiote.

* * *

><p>A room similar to the one Naruto was currently in held another bond man, except instead of suspended from a chain; this man was bound to a chair. His Root Anbu gear had been removed along with most of his cloths. One other occupant paced around in the room. The purple haired interrogator walked back and forth, her trench coat flapping as she turned around to repeat the process.<p>

"Where did your accomplices take Naruto Uzumaki?"

Her question was met with silence.

"Why did you target him?"

Silence was his only answer.

"Answer me!" she screamed.

It had been a pattern that Anko Mitarashi had repeated for the last hour followed by an intense beating. She had picked up the chair and its occupant several times now and had given the man several seconds of rest before restarting his torture. But now she was done playing around, her patience had come to an end.

She pulled a kunai from one of his pockets and in a flash she had slammed it into the man's right shoulder. The kunai had been aimed to land onto bone with only enough force to pierce flesh. The faux Anbu screamed in response to the invasion of his shoulder. Anko wasn't finished with a mere laceration and began twisting the still embedded knife, scraping the bone. The feel of his bone being scrape was agonizingly slow, eliciting more pain filled grunts and groans.

"Talk!" Anko commanded, no longer bothering with repeating her questions.

Several seconds went by as she continued digging the kunai around inside of him. Without warning she abandoned her weapon and made her way to a table near by. The interrogator browsed the several tools and equipments on the table. Her hands skimmed over the deadly and pristine tools. Finally her hand stopped and picked up a pair of pliers. She brought it to her face and flexed the tool before returning to her prisoner.

"I'm going to give you one last chance… before I permanently remove something." her voice cold and without remorse for what she was prepared to do.

He stared at her for several seconds, yet despite her promise he remained silent.

"Have it your way."

She grabbed his face and squeezed down in an attempt to pry his mouth open. He fought feverishly to keep his mouth clamp shut, not at all ignorant of what she planned to do. Anko struggled with him, bringing the tool inches to his face as she managed to inch his mouth apart. A frustrated sigh escaped her mouth when his mouth tightened back up. Angered by her failure, Anko slapped the pliers across her prisoners face.

Her eyes looked down to the hands that were bound to the chair and then to the nails that were connected to its fingers. The prisoner's eyes widened when he noticed what had her focus. The pliers dragged across the panicking mans hands, Anko's only warning.

When the expected silence continued Anko adjusted the tool in her hand and gripped the nail with its teeth. She pulled ever slowly, never taking her eyes off the man's face as he gritted his teeth and even leaked a few tears. Flesh gave loose as the man pitifully cried and Anko no longer felt tension on the tool in her hands.

"Talk!" She demanded

Her anger rose to new heights when the man merely panted in response. She abandoned the tool to the ground and gripped the throat of the prisoner before her.

"Talk dammit! Talk. I can continue torturing you all day, but eventually I WILL KILL YOU!" She began screaming in his face as she started choking the life out of him.

The door to the room burst open and Ibiki rushed through, wrestling Anko away from their prisoner. It was only after she'd been thrown into the adjacent room where the others watched the torture did she come to her senses and calm down.

Ibiki slammed the door behind him and turned to the other occupants. "Get out, I need this room to myself."

They all nodded and made their way towards the other exit. Anko began weakly picking herself up and made to follow them, but she found a firm hand on her shoulder.

"It's only because I know what you're going through that I don't tear you a new asshole. At the same time I'm removing you from this case."

He felt her shoulders shudder as she took in deep breathes.

"I'll send someone to you when we find out where they're keeping Naruto. Go home and get some rest."

Anko didn't bother to turn around and face the man. "How will you get anything out of him? Inoichi couldn't access his mind and I just spent the last hour in that room trying to break him."

"He'll break." Ibiki spoke confidently. "Get some rest."

Anko slipped from beneath his fingers and exited the room. With that taken care of, Ibiki reentered the interrogation. He picked up the pliers off the ground and returned them to the table.

"You're tough, that much is for sure. But I'm experienced in these kind of things. No matter who you work for, your loyalty will falter…. or I'll leave you as a crippled mess, forever disfigured and unable to even properly operate without someone's help."

The prisoner of the room began hyperventilating as the scar riddled interrogator eyed a bone saw, bringing it up and inspecting it.

"I don't plan to kill you…. no, your luck on that ran out the second I got that woman away from you. She'd have killed you, but me…. I know how to truly make your life hell."

* * *

><p><em>Imprisoned. The fact that it was once more detained sent waves of frustration through its liquid form. The man carrying it had split off from the others, passing several pairs of doors. While the symbiote waited for what laid next in the scheme of life, it couldn't help but reminisce about the past twelve years. From the beginning of its bonding, to the humorous antics its host played on the village, as well as the unkind recent events.<em>

_Finally its carrier balanced it in one hand while opening a door. Inside the new room were various assortments of equipments from simple microscopes to computer screens with complex information littering their lit surface. Its container was placed on a nearby table and the man went about grabbing items and organizing his work area in preparation. _

_The symbiote examined its surroundings from its prison before a shout of excitement echoed through it. The fool of a man had placed it near the edge, and with the frailty of its entrapment, a mere fall from the height of the table would at least crack it if not altogether shatter._

_A quick judgment of the empty space within the container informed it that there was just enough room to move with enough force to tip the jar, but now its concern returned to the man within the room. Still busy preparing whatever his plans were. It knew that if it were to attempt escape that it would have but one chance. If it failed, then the container would most likely be secured more safely, then again it was highly unlikely that another chance as the one before it would occur especially if the man realized his own stupidity. _

_The cons of waiting stacked up far too much for the symbiote and it began swaying back and forth. Each movement was with as much inertia it could carry with the limited space. The prison began to pivot, but not quiet to the extent it wanted. A change of tactics had it running across the sides of it container, spinning itself into a whirlpool. The container began twirling on the edge of its bottom. _

The sound of the bottom scrapping the table caught the attention of the other occupant in the room. Eyes widening as he watched the container tip over the table. His reflexes kicked into overdrive and he dived to catch it.

The sound of glass shattering erupted in the room and it sprung into action. Its black tendrils quickly ensnared the man. Its body quickly covered him and within a few second it had found its way into his brain.

_It had been banished for its decision to become a symbiote , ironic how it was about to revert to old ways._

_The man stilled, his brain lobotomized by the being invading his body and now taking control._

"**Success**!" the symbiote spoke through the man's voice.

_Immediately the symbiote scanned through the memories of its new host, searching for anything that pertained to its current location. It discovered that they were in an underground base located under a portion of the village. It burned to memory the layout of the base, especially the surveillance room that monitored the various halls and rooms. The symbiote counted itself lucky that the room it was currently in held no cameras, though this was to reduce the evidence of what occurred in the room._

_A plan formulated in its mind as it slid the foot of its host in order to sweep the broken fragments of its previous container under the table._

* * *

><p>The chains digging into his wrists grew ever more uncomfortable. The cool temperature began to sink into his naked flesh as a shiver snaked through his body. Though uncomfortable, Naruto kept his mind sharp and his body limp.<p>

The Root nin was unaware of the fact that Naruto was conscious as he inspected said teen's seal. Naruto considered snatching the man the instant he was within reach, but with his hands bound and his strength recovering, it just wasn't an opportune time. He still had his feet and legs, but until the Root nin was no longer paying attention he doubted he'd be able to effectively kill the man.

The Root nin continued his inspection.

'My head feels so empty.' Naruto noted. 'I'd forgotten how it felt to be alone. I need to get my other back, to be complete. But first I need to destroy these devices. Where did they take it?"

His thoughts ended abruptly when the man inspecting his seal tensed.

"It's not here."

That one statement sealed his fate. As soon as the Root nin turned around to leave, he found a pair of legs gripped around his neck and crushing his wind pipe. He struggled against the appendages, reaching into his pouch and retrieving a kunai.

Naruto felt the knive enter his side, yet he only tightened his grip. The Root nin struggled for air, a strangled cry escaping his throat before he went limp. Naruto released the man then swung his legs up, gripping the chains and pulled his body till he was hanging upside down. Using his feet to hold himself up, he used the slack created from the act to begin undoing the chains that nearly melded into his skin.

He dropped to the ground on all four limbs. A quick jerk removed the bloodied kunai from his side. Naruto inspected his wound and was satisfied to find none of his organs harmed. The naked man rose to his feet and made his way over to the Root nin.

'Time to get my bearings.' He thought as he performed a set of hand signs and reached for the deceased man's head.

He remained knelt over the man's body for several seconds before rising to his feet and cursing.

"Dammit!" he said while looking around the room.

'He has a block on his mind. Can't access his memories and I don't have the time to try and break through.'

Naruto looked at the man beneath him, more specifically, his clothes. 'He's a size too small.'

He weighed the options in his head for several seconds before getting up and walking towards the exit.

'Clothes will restrict my movement. Besides I have no reservations about fighting in the nude.'

* * *

><p><em>It turned out to be a wise decision to head towards the monitoring room first. The symbiote had quickly ended the life of the man in charge of said room and preceded to search for its host. It stared at the several tv monitors that covered the wall before it and lit the dark room.<em>

_Images of patrols making their rounds appeared and disappeared across the screens. The black and white image of a naked man snuck through one of the screens only to disappear into another._

_The symbiote watched in humor as its nude host snatched one of the patrols into the shadows, only to exit seconds later as the victor. It dug into its current host's memories in order to pin point where his previous host was. Frustration arose as it couldn't find any information of importance and the monitor didn't reveal anything thanks to the halls holding no significant details or noticeable differences._

"_**Shouldn't have killed him." **__the symbiote stated through the man's lips, eying the dead man mere inches away._

_Indeed his information would have been helpful in deciphering the cameras and the location they viewed. But there wasn't anything that could be done about it now. The symbiote continued to stare at the many monitors, trying to find how the man in charge was meant to figure out the lay out of the area. He had to know what camera connected to each location in order to warn against intrusion or other hazards. _

_Again Naruto incapacitated another Root nin before disappearing. He reappeared into monitor, but stilled. A few seconds went by before he ducked into a room. His reasons became known the instant a patrolling Root nin appeared in the camera._

_The symbiote quickly scanned all the monitors, analyzing just how many had doors within sight. Done with its observations, it left the room and began its hunt._

* * *

><p>It reeked within the room. There wasn't an ounce of light aside from the small slit at the bottom of the door. The light at the bottom parted for a mere second as one of the patrols passed by.<p>

Naruto held his breath, remaining still in the hopes that whoever was on the other side would not detect him. He waited a full two minutes before moving to leave, only to halt as he found no door knob.

"What the hell!" he said, forgetting all about stealth as he stared at the flat surface of the door.

He applied his hand to the surface and used chakra to stick himself to it. "Dammit." he cursed as he realized that without pulling the bar back in the door it was useless.

Checking the edges revealed them to be small and the only tool he had was the kunai, which was too thick to fit.

'I can't believe I just got myself locked in!' he nearly screamed in his mind.

Several minutes passed by as he tried to calm himself.

"Uhhh."

The groan caught Naruto's attention to the original occupant of the room. A thin man bound to a bed seemed to be the owner of the voice. He had long black hair, pale skin that nearly glowed in the dark room, and he was barely covered around the waist by a thin sheet.

As Naruto's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he noticed a needle stuck into the man's arm that was connected to an IV drip next to his bed. 'Whoever this is, Danzo wants him to live.'

The man looked over to Naruto's location. His face went from puzzled to disgust.

"I thought the point of this was for you to get my genes, this… is just sick." his voice came out hoarse.

Naruto returned the puzzled face while thinking over what could cause the man to say such a thing. He looked over himself, remembering he was naked and connected the sentence.

"Well don't worry buddy, you're not my type." was Naruto's smartass response.

"Then what are you doing here, more importantly, why are you nude?"

Naruto turned back to the door leading out. He didn't sense anyone on the other side, but that didn't mean he needed to be careless. Moving closer to the bed caused the man tied to it to inch away.

The nude blonde began whispering. "Look I don't know for certain what your situation is, but I'd assume that you, like me have been taken captive. I broke free and jumped in here to hide."

"That was a mistake." the bound man whispered back.

"Yeah." Naruto admitted.

The man posed a new question. "So how long have they held you?"

Naruto considered the time he was conscious. "Possibly a day or more, couldn't be more than two though."

"And already broke out of you're room, that's better than my record, though you can see they've taken certain measures to prevent that. Out of curiosity, who am I talking to?"

"Naruto."

The man went quiet. Naruto assumed he was merely done talking, though he considered it odd to simply end the conversation at his name.

"Uzumaki… Naruto."

Naruto turned and faced the man. "Do I know you?"

"You don't recognize me? I guess it has been a long time and my time in here hasn't been the kindest."

The blonde began paying close attention to the man. His voice wasn't familiar though that could have been from his dried mouth, and the darkness made it hard to see key features. A feminine hint with the long hair and facial outline was the best he could gather.

"It's me, Haku."

A smile spread across his face as a sense of irony arose. "Well… long time no see. Where the heck did you go?"

"Here. During the Chunin exams I was attacked by leaf Anbu… then brought here. Danzo wanted to recruit me into his forces, when I rejected him, he tried to break me." A mirth smile crossed his face. "Zabuza had subjected me to worse; Danzo wasn't pleased when I didn't bend to his will. So he had me tied up, put an IV in my arm for nutrients, and made sure that I was too weak to attempt any escapes yet strong enough to live. Then he sent his female agents in here to _collect_ my seed."

Naruto chuckled. "Well at least you had company."

Haku didn't share in his humor. "I was raped! I don't care what anyone else says, rape is rape. What makes this worse is that I know full well what Danzo has planned for my children! He'll raise them to be his slaves, deprive them a human life, to be nothing more than drones. As many times as I've been visited…. There has to be at least a few successful pregnancies."

Naruto's mood turned dark. "He won't get that chance."

"What do you plan to do? you're stuck-"

Both occupants of the room tensed as the light under the door parted. Naruto turned just in time for the door to open and darted towards the opening just in time to grab the Root nin by his vest and pull him into the room. He reared the kunai in his other hand back and slammed it into the nins skull.

'What the… he didn't even resist.'

Suddenly a black fluid leapt from the man's body and covered Naruto. It took a mere few seconds before it took new shape. A mask formed on his face with two torn tear like lens for eyes, Black, slick jacket with the zipper on the far right side and matching pants covered the rest of his body, boots formed over his feet and part of his pants while gloves appeared over his hands. Leather padding grew on his shoulders, elbows, and knees. And the final change was a white spider emblem bleeding to life on his chest and back.

Naruto eagerly slammed a fist into an open palm, a loud boom sounding off in the room. 'Complete once more.'

The symbiote began relating all information it had gained while using the Root nin as a temporary host.

Haku was nearly blinded by the rush of light that flooded the room, but he saw what had transpired, and yet he wasn't sure what to make of it. He remained silent, what he considered his best course of action due to not truly knowing what happened to Naruto.

Suddenly he was acknowledged by Naruto. "We'll be back after we pay Danzo a visit."

'We? I know he referred to himself as we when we first met, but just a moment ago he was referring to himself as I.' Haku remained puzzled.

Naruto exited the room and closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>His symbiote shifted into a uniform matching that of the Root Anbu he had encountered along the way. He picked one matching his physique and made his way to Danzo's office. Naruto encountered another Root nin. The unsuspecting nin gave Naruto a brief glance before walking pass him.<p>

Naruto's arm whipped and connected with the man's skull. An echoing snap bounced through the halls followed by the sound of a body crashing against a stone wall.

He didn't need to see the blood pooling around the nins head to know he was dead. Naruto kept walking forward as the sound of foot steps grew closer. Naruto turned around as if preparing to inspect the dead body.

Another Root nin came up behind him. "What happened here?"

His query was met with a powerful blow to the solar plexus. The Root nin's body was bent over Naruto's outstretched arm , making it easy for Naruto to reach up and snap his neck.

Again he began his march towards Danzo's office, preparing himself for the next unfortunate soul to cross his path.

* * *

><p>Danzo was seated, reading one of the many recent reports littering the desk in front of him. The Hokages' activities, The Hidden Mist's civil war conclusion, and Kumo's attempts at replicating the Hyuga's Byakugan were just some of the topics within the reports.<p>

A series of knocks sounded off his door. "Come in." he firmly demanded.

The door opened and in walked one of his men. A man that reached up to five eleven with a bulky physique approached his desk.

"Report!"

Danzo's demand went unanswered, and the bandaged elder was unaware of the heated glare being pointed at him.

Oddly enough, he had been patient with the response, waiting almost a few minute.

"Repor-"

Pain erupted in his left hand, the cause blatantly obvious as he stared at the offending kunai nailing his hand. His attention shifted up to his supposed operative, Naruto's enraged face meeting his gaze.

"You! How.." Danzo gritted his teeth.

Naruto kept his eyes locked. "You should have killed us when you had the chance. You coward."

Danzo's bandaged hand whipped up to the gauze wrapping on his face. Naruto noticed the action and in one fluid movement, gripped the arm with a death-like grip and wrench it away from the bandaged man's face. He produced another kunai, this time nailing the hand to the man's chair.

"You're not as crippled as you act. So why all the bandages? What are you hiding?"

Naruto's curiosity almost got the better of him as he reached to remove the steadily red dying bandages.

'We can check it afterwards.'

"You've got much to answer for. Traitor. And we plan to make you pay for every deed before we kill you."

Fear began to creep its way onto Danzo's face, though he tried to remain defiant. "I am no traitor. All I've done have been for the good of my village. How would someone like you understand? You've lied to your leader, your comrades, and everyone that knows you."

A balled fist across Danzo's face was his reward for his defiance.

Naruto's response came in a near growl. "We have never sabotaged our leader or our comrades. We've never done anything to jeopardize the village just so we could get ahead. Unlike you, we are truly loyal to Konoha and not ourselves."

Several more blows to the face came as Naruto vented his rage.

Danzo's bruised face grimaced. "What do you understand about loyalty. About doing right by your village. You don't understand what sacrifices I've made. How I've worked behind the scenes to insure my village's safety was assured. Your alien counterpart could have been an asset to the village, but you selfishly kept it to yourself-"

The sentence was cut off there thanks to the hand gripping the old war hawk's throat.

"What sacrifices have you made? You hold a seat on the council you have no right to. You brainwash people into being your slaves, going so far as to kill themselves should they fail. Your injuries-"

Naruto realized something. "No. We've wasted too much time."

He slammed his arm down on Danzo's arm that was pinned to the desk. Several sharp cracks reverberated from the apendage. Naruto retrieved the kunai from the limb, its purpose no longer necessary due to the broken bones. The kunai found a new home in the bandage covered man's abdomen. He intently aimed for the liver, a deadly blow, but one that wouldn't kill him till Naruto was thoroughly done with the torment.

* * *

><p>Haku was tempted to fall back to sleep with how long it was taking Naruto to get back. Almost ready to assume that he had either been killed trying to get to Danzo or had simply left him behind in order to escape.<p>

The door to his prison creaked open. The man standing in the door way was obviously a Root nin with his dress apparel, but Haku couldn't recognize him thanks to the light flowing in, shadowing his features. The figure took a few more steps in, the shadows leaving his face.

"So… you didn't abandon me."

Naruto smiled at the statement. "We're hurt. Do you really think we'd do such a thing?"

The blonde began undoing the binds imprisoning Haku to the bed, removing the IV as well as wrapping the blankets around his form to keep his modesty. The ice nin noticed the blood staining his fingers, as well as the splatters that riddled his clothing. Despite the clues to the torment that Naruto had inflicted on Danzo and his followers, this was not enough to distract him from his earlier thoughts. The black fluid that had grafted itself to Naruto and his change from me to we still remained solid.

Naruto had just finished undoing the bindings. "Can you walk?"

Haku shook his head. "Not without a lot of help. I've been restrained to this bed for nearly two years. I've only been able to prevent my muscles from atrophying by sending pulses of lightning chakra through my body."

"Never would have thought of that." Naruto admitted, helping Haku up and slinging the limp man's arm over his shoulder.

He stood up, dragging the long haired man up with him. They began the slow trip out of the base, taking random turns through the base. Naruto didn't bother worrying about any random patrols finding them, he had already taken care of such a nuisance.

"You know the way out?" Haku suddenly asked.

"Yeah, we do."

'We…' "So what's with your interesting speech?"

A confused look crossed Naruto's face, as confused as he could possibly fake. They stopped at a intersection. Naruto looked around, searching his mind for the correct path.

"What do you mean about our speech?"

Haku didn't even humor his question. "I might have just woken up, but I know what you were saying before that… this" He pointed out the clothes covering Naruto. "Covered you. What is this?"

Naruto huffed. Seeing that he wouldn't be able to bluff his way out. "Our other." Naruto stated "Is not of this world."

Haku gave him a skeptical look. "You mean that it's…. from another planet. It's sentient."

"In a manner of speaking. It's also why Danzo captured us. He wanted to use our other as a weapon for his army."

"The black stuff you used to fight and bind me-"

"Webbing created from my other."

Haku stayed silent, processing what he was hearing.

"I assume that's not all it can do."

Naruto shook his head. "It can alter its appearance to whatever clothing we may need as well as blend in with the surroundings, making us slightly invisible. It increases my strength and speed, makes me aggressive, but that I admit was a good thing. You'll keep this a secret….. my other will be kept a secret.." Naruto's tone turned dark towards the end.

Haku understood the message behind the statement. 'He'll kill me if I tell anyone.'

"I won't say anything. I don't owe Konoha anything, you I owe at least this for freeing me from Danzo….. Thank you for sharing this with me."

Naruto didn't respond. He was upset enough that he had to tell Haku anything at all.

They arrived at the end of another hall, a door present before them. Naruto reached forward, grasping the knob and turning. Opening the door revealed a staircase leading up. After climbing up the steps, the two found themselves into what appeared to be the basement of a house. Further exploration showed that the assumption was correct as they found an inviting living room complete with furniture decorating the area and curtains filtering light in.

'Just how long were we in there?' Naruto wondered.

Haku raised the hand, not slung over Naruto's shoulder, in front of his face, a vain attempt to keep the light from blinding his dark tolerant eyes.

A dry chuckle emanated from him. "You'd think I'd be happy to see actual light after so long."

"Better get used to it. Don't know how far the Hokage's office is from here."

Haku didn't protest, either seeing truth in what he said or merely too tired to argue. He looked towards Naruto uniform and became curious.

"Why are you still dressed as a Root nin?"

"When we were taken. We were wearing only a hospital gown, which we lost in the fight, and some bandages. So unless we plan to go naked, we need to seem as if we found an extra pair of clothing unless we want suspicion to be aimed at us."

Haku nodded in understanding.

The blonde opened the door to exit the building and came to face the busy streets of the market area. Shoppers and venders alike took notice of the odd pair exiting the building, but went on with their business.

One or two people inquired to if they needed help, but Naruto ignored them as he easily found the large Hokage tower and began his slow walk towards it.

* * *

><p>Upon arriving at their destination, Naruto had to climb up the side of the building, not an easy task while supporting Haku on his shoulders.<p>

'That bitch at the front desk made this such a hassle!' he thought while crawling up the wall with only one hand.

"I never realized how impressive your chakra control is." Haku idly noticed.

Naruto crawled up a few more feet. "Oh yeah. Normally it's enjoyable when We're not doing it one handed and carrying approximately…. eighty-six pounds."

"Welllll, you should thank Danzo. I'd weigh more if it weren't for my starved state." Haku sarcastically replied.

The blonde kept climbing up. He was just at the window when a shadow appeared above him.

"We normally can't sense you climbing up, then again you seem to have baggage today." an Anbu of Konoha stated, standing on the wall with chakra and looming over Naruto and Haku. "Where have you been for the past two days?"

Naruto regarded the Anbu, the real Anbu, with lazy eyes. "We'll tell the Hokage all about it. But it's a long story, one We rather not repeat.

The Anbu nodded as he stepped out of Naruto's way, an odd act considering what he was standing on.

Naruto proceeded past the elite nin and made no attempt to be quiet as he banged onto the window.

Tsunade jerked, twisting in her chair to see the creator of the ruckus hanging next to the window. Team Guy were also present, each sporting either shocked or curious looks on their face.

With muted permission, Lee made his way over to the window and opened it.

"Ah, where have you been Naruto? We've all tried our best to insure you're youthful return!"

Lee's jubilant voice brought a smile to Naruto's face.

"Where have you been and who is that on your shoulders?" And Tsunade's stern voice reminded Naruto of why he was here.

"We were kidnapped. So was he, only his captured occurred during the Chunin exams before you were Hokage." Naruto explained pulling himself into the room and placing Haku on a nearby couch.

"The Chunin exams?" Tsunade wondered. "Was this Orochimaru's doing?"

"Hah!" Naruto's exclaimed. "You wish it was that particular monster of Konoha. No this one was still hiding here."

Concerned looks crossed across everyone's face who were ignorant of Naruto's and Haku's whereabouts.

Tenten found her voice. "Monster within Konoha? What are you talking about?"

A small chuckle crept from Naruto's mouth. "Danzo Shimura."

"So those were Root nins." Tsunade murmured.

Naruto merely nodded his head.

The blonde woman turned to Team Guy. "As you can see, Naruto is no longer missing. So I won't need you and Team eight to look for him. You are dismissed, and please inform Team eight of Naruto's status."

The team quickly left, though Lee seemed slightly reluctant, leaving only Naruto, Haku, and Tsunade in the room.

"Your name is?" Tsunade addressed Haku.

"I am Haku. Danzo had me kidnapped back during the Chunin exams nearly…." Haku turned to Naruto. "I don't know how long ago, there wasn't any way to tell time where I was held."

"It's nearly been four years since We brought you to Konoha." Naruto stated.

A look of wonder crossed Haku's face. "I had only spent nearly two months at the hospital when I went to watch your fight in the Chunin exams. Has it really been that long ago?"

"Do either of you know why Danzo had you captured?"

Haku spoke first. "He wanted me to swear allegiance to Konoha, more specifically, to become a Root nin."

"You must have been talented if he sent his nins to get you."

Haku shook his head at Tsunade's statement. "Though I am talented, it was my blood line he was after, hence why I have not been killed yet."

Tsunade's senses went on alert, foreboding what would be said next. "What do you mean?"

"I have the ability to combine water and wind elemental chakra in order to make ice ninjutsu. When I refused to be a ninja for him, he had me locked away…. and….. raped.. in the hope that my children would carry my bloodline and…. serve him in my place."

'Damn you Danzo.' Tsunade cursed the old war hawk.

The blonde Hokage took in a deep, slow breathe of air, exhaling in the hopes of alleviating the stress building up. "I'm sorry for all that has happened to you Haku. What Danzo has done to you is both inhumane and unforgivable. I will immediately send out a warrant for his arrest."

"Too late for that." Naruto mirthfully commented.

A headache began building in Tsunade's head. "What… do you mean by that?"

Naruto smiled. "When We discovered everything that Danzo had done, We decided to become his judge, jury, and executioner."

"Dammit Naruto!" Tsunade yelled. "What Danzo has done would have demanded death, but he was still a council member and should have been brought in first! Do you have any idea how much trouble this is going to cause?"

She sat back in her chair and began messaging her temples. 'An investigation on Naruto will be demanded, on top of the investigation onto Danzo. Oh the paperwork!'

"We don't see what the problem is. Danzo was ordered by the third to disband Root, on top of that he has kidnapped a resident and a currently enlisted nin of Konoha. These actions are traitorous and deserve death."

"Yes! But not under your judgment alone!" Tsunade stated.

"There's plenty of evidence in Danzo's base of operations to support Our judgment. Just send out someone you trust to investigate." Naruto uncaringly responded.

Still messaging her temples, Tsunade released a sigh. "Fine. Where is his base of operations?"

Naruto walked up to her desk and retrieved a pen and pad of paper. He quickly scribbled the address done and handed it to her.

"The house of this address has a basement that leads to his underground base. We made no attempt to close it up, so it should be obvious when they get there."

Tsunade nodded. "Shizune!"

Said women entered the room almost immediately. "Yes- oh it's good to see you safe Naruto. Where have you been?"

"Later." Tsunade interrupted. "I want you and a team of Anbu to investigate this address and the base beneath it.

"Yes Hokage."

Shizune immediately left, understanding her mentor's mood.

Once more the three were left alone. "Alright, I'm sure you both are tired from your ordeal, and both of you need to be checked into the hospital, or rechecked back in." she pointed towards Naruto.

"We're ok enough to sleep in our own beds." Naruto stated. "But what's do you plan to do about Haku?"

"Well obviously I plan to check him into the hospital and bring him back to good health."

"That's not what We're talking about." Naruto interrupted. "We mean, how do you plan to make up for the injustice done to him."

"You've already killed Danzo. I can't bring the man to justice."

Naruto shook his head. "Konoha owes him more than just justice."

"And what exactly can we give you?" Tsunade honestly asked Haku. "I can easily arrange for a home to be set up and a small fund until you can get on your feet.

Several seconds went by as the long haired man remained silent.

"I want my children found."

A chill climbed up Tsunade's spine from the low voiced demand. "I can't make any promises on that. For one there is no assured way to know is there were any successful pregnancies. I doubt that if there were, that Danzo would have the birth take place in one an official hospitals, so there wouldn't be a record of them either. But I will try."

"On the matter of family." Naruto interjected. "We believe the troubles that have befallen poor Haku would deserve something to make his life easier in Konoha. Something like….. clan status to protect both him and his children."

Haku looked in shock at Naruto as Tsunade thought over the idea.

Naruto continued speaking. "There is… technically a free space now. And now that We think of it, Danzo owes Haku more than Konoha does, so why not simply give the old man's money and possessions over to Haku as well."

Tsunade remained in thought. 'Everything Danzo owned would have simply been taken and liquidated regardless. Naruto's right about the space on the council being free, the council will look to fill it in, but Haku's foreign status and his age are the only two factors that worry me.'

"It can be done." Tsunade finally spoke. "But it will take time and I'll need to talk to the council about this."

Naruto smiled in response. "Good. Well… We have a bed and one mostly likely worried-"

His sentence was interrupted by a series of shouts and yells.

"You can't go in there!"

The double doors to the office burst open, in stumbled Anko, her appearance disheveled and restless. She paused in the room as her eyes fell upon the occupants and remained latched onto Naruto. The three were unprepared when Anko suddenly barreled forward and tackled the blonde spider nin.

Naruto who had been unprepared for the move, stumbled backwards and fell out the window. A quick shot of webbing ended their fall, allowing Naruto to embrace Anko with the arm that wasn't supporting them from the line of webbing.

"You really were worried." Naruto commented while Anko merely pressed herself tighter to him, remaining uncharacteristicly quiet.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I want to apologize for how long it has taken for me to get this chapter out. My laptop broke down in the middle of me working on this and I have been hard pressed to find a way to finish the chapter. I hate to admit that I don't know when I'll get another one or when I'll even be able to get the next chapter done. Hopefully things will look up and It will be soon, but until then I hope you all enjoy this chapter.


End file.
